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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29676042">[barks]</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izupie/pseuds/Izupie'>Izupie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>IT (Movies - Muschietti)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Creatures &amp; Monsters, Ben Hanscom is a Good Friend, M/M, Mutual Pining, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Werewolf Richie Tozier, but it doesnt exist so Ive had to write it, it's the werewolf romance story I always wanted to read</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:29:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,477</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29676042</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izupie/pseuds/Izupie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eddie's got no idea that he's moved into a town filled with monsters, since he can't actually <i>see</i> them. So he also has no idea that his new friends include a vampire, a ghost, a witch, a harpy and a dryad. Or that his very best friend in the whole world just happens to be a werewolf - hiding his secret as best he can. (Which is not very well).</p><p>Richie knows it's a bad idea to accept Eddie's invitation to the Full Moon Fair, but he just can't say no. So now all he has to try and do is to find a way to stop his transformation, have a nice night, and keep his secret safe, which is all easier said than done in Derry. Oh, and being very much in love with him doesn't help either.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ben Hanscom &amp; Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Mike Hanlon &amp; Richie Tozier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. in all ways except physical</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I was originally going to write this entire story and then post each chapter in a really pleasant posting schedule, being able to sit back smug in the knowledge that it was all already written.<br/>Then I threw that plan out the window.</p><p>I love these kinds of stories. I grew up on Buffy and the Vampire Diaries books, so it was inevitable that I would try my hand at a fantasy romance story one day. And since Werewolf Richie is a concept that lives in my brain rent free... here we are. </p><p>I have to thank the enthusiasm of my friend Tami <a href="https://www.instagram.com/scrrunchiiii/?hl=en">(go enjoy her lovely art on insta @Scrunchiiii)</a> for this story that kept me going when I hit some rocky patches and meant that I continued my work (blood sweat and tears) on this!<br/>Also a big thank you to my beta reader for this first chapter <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiKidsDoYouLikeViolence/pseuds/richie-tozier-is-my-eboy">Aiyana
</a> for helping me iron out some kinks! (and making sure it makes sense to someone who isn't me)</p><p>please let me know your thoughts on the premise! (is it too weird? are you curious to see more?)<br/></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Richie had thought – when he was marching to Ben’s house imagining what he could say to convince him to help – that he’d be above begging. But when he asked his question and was answered with a deep frown and a shake of his head, Richie found his hands clasped in front of his face before he could think about it.</p>
<p>“Please, Benny-Boy. C’mon you’ve gotta help me out, man.”</p>
<p>Ben’s frown tightened, but his eyebrows turned down in sympathy. “Rich… You know I can’t.”</p>
<p>“Ben-n-n,” Richie whined, trying to channel every time as a kid that he’d given his mom his best ‘puppy dog eyes’ – but all he could think about was how Eddie’s huge dark eyes proved that it didn’t matter that Richie was <em>actually part wolf</em>, he could do it much better.</p>
<p>Ben’s expression remained the same.</p>
<p>
  <em>Damn.</em>
</p>
<p>Richie readjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Look, I’m not asking for anything permanent. I know that can’t be done. I just want… one night. Just one.”</p>
<p>Ben sighed and rubbed at his face. “Richie…”</p>
<p>Watching Ben struggle made Richie feel like shit, because they all knew that he would try his best to help anyone with anything, and here he was putting him in a situation where he couldn’t win either way; he’d either help but do something he wasn’t comfortable with or refuse and let down a friend.</p>
<p>There was a smudge of soot on Ben’s chin, his pointed hat was slightly askew, and he smelt strongly of the mixture of sweet and sharp scented herbs that always clung to his robes. Richie’s wolf ears twitched as they caught the sound of flames crackling, firewood popping, and liquid bubbling from somewhere deep within.</p>
<p>“Aha, I thought you might say no – so I have a very solid case to present to you, and that case is…” Richie trailed off as he saw the beginnings of another apology form on Ben’s lips. Fuck. It was time to be serious. He took a deep breath and let all his vulnerabilities and fears and feelings for Eddie thrum through his chest as he cut the bullshit and said just one word, “Please.”</p>
<p>Maybe it was the lack of a punchline, or the expression he felt on his face; twisting with the hurt that was clenching his heart, but Ben closed his mouth and blinked in surprise. He stared hard at Richie and then finally straightened his hat as he quietly said, “You better come in.”</p>
<p>Richie’s ears and tail perked up in hope as Ben turned in the doorway and motioned for him to follow. While it wasn’t necessarily a yes, it had progressed a little from the absolute no from when he’d first opened the door.</p>
<p>“Ben, Benny-Boy, Ben, Ben, Benjamin – has anyone told you that you are the <em>most </em>amazing friend of <em>all time</em>?” Richie nearly sang as he entered the house and trotted after him. Ben’s shoulders hiked up as they walked, and Richie watched with amusement as the tips of his long, pointed ears went pink.</p>
<p>“I just, don’t want you to get your hopes up. I don’t even know if it can be done,” Ben warned softly over his shoulder. “And even if it <em>can </em>be done, if it doesn’t stick, and Eddie finds out… the consequences for you both…”</p>
<p>“I know,” Richie sighed, “trust me, I know.”</p>
<p>“And anyway, I think you might be overestimating my abilities.”</p>
<p>Richie tried to stop his bushy tail from wagging in delight. “Are you kidding?” he scoffed. “I believe in you, dude. If anyone can do it, you can. I saw that crazy shit you pulled with that potion you gave Stan.”</p>
<p>Ben ducked his head down bashfully as he led him through a long, narrow hallway, with various doors spaced out along the walls. “I have a few books on Vampires, so I was pretty confident about brewing the daywalking potion, but I’ve never actually read any books about Werewolves, so this is pretty unknown magical territory for me.”</p>
<p>The excitement bubbling through Ben’s voice was clear, and it made Richie feel a little less guilty.</p>
<p>“Maybe you could write one,” Richie suggested, trying not to get freaked out by the stone floor suddenly sloping sharply downwards, obviously carved deep into the ground. “<em>‘My friend the college werewolf who continuously makes bad decisions, but hey, at least he was funny.’</em>”</p>
<p>He was surprised by how much bigger Ben’s house was than he expected, though he remembered him mentioning that he’d built it himself, and if he had the ability to build his own house, he’d probably make it huge too. The winding passage continued down and led to some steps, also carved out of stone, that ended with a wooden door. Richie hesitated as Ben descended the steps and turned a comically large key in the lock that clunked satisfyingly as it unlocked.</p>
<p>“Wow, you really <em>committed</em> to the whole Witch thing. Props for dedication, Benjamin.”</p>
<p>“It’s my secret passage,” Ben said proudly, “and besides… I <em>am </em>a witch, so…”</p>
<p>“I’m just glad we’re close enough for you to show me your ‘secret passage’-”</p>
<p>“I was going to neaten it up, but I kind of like the rustic look,” Ben continued in the same excited tone, completely unaware of the double meaning Richie had been going for. That was why he liked Ben – he was so earnest and sweet – but god did he miss the chewing out he would have gotten for that garbage level attempt at a cheap laugh from Eddie.</p>
<p>As if the thought of Eddie boldened him Richie leaped down the rest of the steps in one go. He landed lightly on his feet, with his tail out for balance, and coughed at the dust it stirred up.  </p>
<p>Ben coughed too as Richie dusted down his jeans and shot him a grin, then he followed Ben through the door (that creaked noisily when it opened, obviously) into a large room filled with all sorts of magical paraphernalia and instruments. Richie whistled. The stone was polished and smooth inside, and it looked like a Witch’s paradise: there were shelves of bottles and jars containing powders, plants, and oddly coloured liquids; worktables were piled with all sorts of equipment, that Richie couldn’t even begin to identify; and tall stacks of books made an obstacle course of the floor. There were sheets of paper pinned to any spare wall space not being occupied by shelves, with red circles and notes scribbled onto them, and a thick red string that connected some of them together. Three huge bubbling cauldrons sat atop log fires that popped and crackled with the intensity of the flames, spewing out various coloured smoke in swirls. The smell was almost overwhelming, and Richie slammed his hands over his sensitive nose. “Holy shit,” he said nasally.</p>
<p>Ben raced around the room to pick up abandoned books and papers into his arms, though the room looked just as busy as before anyway, and he dumped them all onto a nearby table that was already nearly overflowing with more piles of books. He brushed down his robes and leaned on the table with one arm, then jumped as a few pages slipped off and scattered over the floor.</p>
<p>Richie eventually pulled his hand away from his nose and winced as the smell hit him again. He was getting used to it though. He crinkled his nose and sneezed again. Maybe not.</p>
<p>“Wow, I had no idea you were such a nerd, Hanscom.”</p>
<p>“Oh gee, thanks.”</p>
<p>“No, no, I meant, like- you read all of these?”</p>
<p>“Not <em>all </em>of them…”</p>
<p>“You’re basically a walking library, dude! I’d be telling everyone who’d stop to listen to me for five minutes,” Richie said, stunned by how quiet Ben had been about all of this. He adjusted his glasses and slipped into a posh voice when he added, “‘Excuse me. Do you <em>know</em> how many books I’ve read? I could turn you into a toad right here.’”</p>
<p>Ben reached over to stir a long wooden spoon in one of the cauldrons, the liquid pink and foamy, while his cheeks bloomed the same colour. He smiled and tried to hide a giggle.</p>
<p>“I’d support you, y’know,” Richie continued conversationally, “if you turned anyone in Derry into a toad. Especially any of my professors. Or Bowers and his gang. But they’re basically toads already, so maybe it wouldn’t work on them.”</p>
<p>Ben’s giggles escaped him, and Richie flashed his fangs in a pleased smile. If he couldn’t say <em>I’m a terrible fucking friend and I’m sorry for asking you to do this</em> in words, then he sure as hell would say it through making Ben laugh.</p>
<p>“I spent a lot of time by myself before I met you guys,” Ben eventually explained softly, still stirring. “I wasn’t really interested in making friends, and nobody bothered me out here on my own. Building my house, all of my reading and studying… it kept me busy.” He rested the spoon back onto the side of the cauldron and smiled wider. “Now you all keep me busy instead. And anyway, Witches can’t actually turn anyone into toads – you’ve been watching too many human movies.”</p>
<p>Richie pouted. “Seriously? What’s the fun in having magic powers if you can’t turn people into toads?” He paused. “And who told you I’ve been watching human movies?”</p>
<p>“Bev.”</p>
<p>“That little snitch!”</p>
<p>Ben frowned and Richie waved his hands. “I’m kidding! Bev knows I love her to the moon and back. It’s just, I don’t know, another way I feel weird compared to the rest of the town.” He shrugged and picked at a loose thread on the corner of his open shirt. It was his lucky shirt – bright yellow with black dog bones on.</p>
<p>“Richie… You know I’d never tell anyone, right? And Bev didn’t exactly <em>tell me</em>, it was just because she…” – Ben faltered and smiled sheepishly – “…she said how cute it was that you and Eddie had similar taste in movies.”</p>
<p>Richie’s tail curled with embarrassment and he covered his face with his hands, feeling his glasses digging into the bridge of his nose. “Damn Hanscom, you can’t say shit like that.”</p>
<p>Ben giggled again. “Wow, you really like him, huh?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Richie whispered through his hands, “I do. Fuck.”</p>
<p>Richie thought about the way that his skin went all tingly when he accidentally brushed Eddie’s hand while they were walking sometimes, or how he could feel his heart-beat race when he threw an arm over his shoulder to deliver one of his punchlines. He was forever glad that Eddie couldn’t see any of the supernatural stuff in town because that meant he’d never seen the stomach-churningly embarrassing way his tail wagged like a puppy whenever he said his name. Or how the whole group could be together, and his ears would always angle themselves in his direction.</p>
<p>He’d never just wanted to make someone <em>smile</em> so much before, so he found himself acting up and making jokes and always, always checking to see Eddie’s reaction – was he happy? Did he make him happy?</p>
<p>Frankly, it was a little pathetic.</p>
<p>“I get that,” Ben continued. “I mean, not the liking Eddie part – I do like him, but just as a friend. I mean, finding out you have feelings for someone that you are already friends with. And then you’re, I don’t know, scared of messing that up.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I just…” Richie groaned, his hands still covering his face, unable to unpack who Ben was referring to right now. “Ugh, feelings are dumb. I’m not gonna lie, I would lick a rock just to get his attention and have him yell at me.”</p>
<p>“I already saw you do that!” Ben laughed.</p>
<p>Richie sighed wistfully. “And it worked like a charm.” His hands pushed even harder against his face, unable to bear looking at Ben while he spoke so truthfully. <em>Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me. </em>“I know that he can’t even see that I’m different, so he doesn’t… he doesn’t know what I am. He doesn’t even really know the real me... But the feelings I get when I’m around him… I know they’re real. The rest of the town won’t understand – because he’s a human and I’m… not. But…”</p>
<p><em>There’s one for the records, folks,</em> he thought, <em>Richie Tozier can’t find his words!</em></p>
<p>There was another long stretch of silence that Richie could hardly bear. His stomach lurched and churned uncomfortably with the desire to pull his hands away and say that he was kidding, and it was all a big joke. <em>Gotcha! </em>But he clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath through the nausea.</p>
<p>“Okay then,” Ben said softly, “let’s get you on that date.”</p>
<p>“<em>Date?</em>” Richie’s voice cracked horribly as his hands flew away from his face.</p>
<p>Ben leaned over and pushed a pile of papers from one of the desks – they tumbled to the ground and made Richie jump, but Ben didn’t even react to the mess. Once the desk was clear he dashed around the room and examined the piles of books and papers stacked here and there.</p>
<p>“Uh, Ben?” Richie said, but he didn’t think Ben heard him. He was so focused on checking the spines of every book that he could. He ran his finger down a pile, then moved on, his robes swishing with every movement.</p>
<p>Eventually he made a noise of triumph and pulled a thick book from a pile that wobbled precariously as he took it, then slammed it down onto the well-worn wood with a heavy thud. Ben quickly flicked through the large pages – making a pleasant sound that almost tickled the sensitive fur in Richie’s ears.</p>
<p>“And don’t worry about the rest of the town, you should ignore them,” – he turned a page with a little more force than was necessary – “it doesn’t matter what they think. We’re <em>all</em> outcasts, and we love each other all the same.”</p>
<p>For some reason, his words reminded Richie of something he’d heard Stan say once.</p>
<p>“We’re <em>Losers</em>,” Richie pointed out with a grin, echoing Stan’s sentiment, “and we always stick together.”</p>
<p>“Exactly.”</p>
<p>“Hey, listen, thanks. I really mean it.”</p>
<p>“You’re welcome. I promise I’ll try my best. But I’ve got to be honest, trying to stop your transformation sounds nearly impossible…” Ben glanced up. “It’s like trying to cheat nature.”</p>
<p>Richie didn’t say anything to that, and Ben returned his attention to the book. He couldn’t deny it. There’d been so many times as a kid he’d tried to will away his transformations, and nothing had ever worked – it really did sound impossible...</p>
<p>Another silence descended on them both, broken only by the background bubbling of the cauldrons and the sound of old, brittle paper turning as Ben made his way through the huge book. The word ‘date’ continued echoing around Richie’s head, and he wanted it to stop, so he looked around and turned to the desk nearest him. There was an odd metal contraption sitting on it that looked a bit like a cross between a sundial and one of those desk pendulum things that he’d always wanted. He reached out a slender finger to poke at it and make it swing, but it immediately fell apart at his touch and clanged noisily as it fell over. Richie scrambled to grab the pieces as they fell apart, but some of them clinked against Ben’s stone floor as they rolled off the desk.</p>
<p>“Wow, fragile,” he observed, as he picked up the fallen pieces.</p>
<p>Ben threw him a pinched look but didn’t comment. “I think I have an idea for a potion that might work,” he said instead, “a combination of herbs that I think could work together to negate the effects of the full moon… if I can just find the right base… I’m sure it was in this book.” Ben flicked faster and then stopped suddenly. He ran his finger down the page as he read the tiny text aloud, though none of it made any sense to Richie. He wasn’t even sure he was speaking English. Ben didn’t even look up as he pointed across the room and said, “Can you pass me a roll of parchment, a pot of ink, and a quill?”</p>
<p>Richie snapped to attention and grabbed one of the rolls of parchment sticking out of a box on another one of the desks, a glass pot of ink, and the first feather he saw. Only when he was handing them over did he notice that the quill was a deep flame red colour with copper flecks at the base. “Why, Benny-Boy, I do believe this is one of Bev’s feathers.” The Voice was unintentional, but it came out anyway – bordering on teasing, but entirely good natured.</p>
<p>Ben’s whole face bloomed a soft pink as he rolled out the parchment and dipped the end of the quill into the pot. Instead of saying anything, he scribbled furiously, but the pink on his cheeks deepened in colour as the silence dragged on.</p>
<p>For a while, the only sound was the scratching of a quill running across parchment, and the page of the book being turned every so often. Richie bounced backwards and forwards on his heels. His scuffed and dirty sneakers had seen better days, and he had been promising himself he was going to change the fraying laces for months, but he just hadn’t gotten round to it.</p>
<p>“You… uh- you really think this is a date?” burst out of him, unable to take the silence anymore.</p>
<p>Ben finally looked up. “Isn’t that why you want to go so badly?”</p>
<p>“Well, it’s like- I mean- when he asked me to go to the Full Moon Fair with him, he said it’s so that I could show him around. Which is ironic because I’ve never even fucking been – y’know, since they’re on the full moon and everything, and I’m otherwise kind of occupied.” Richie gestured to his ears and tail.</p>
<p>“But he asked just you to go to a fair with him. No matter how you look at it, it sounds like a date to me.”</p>
<p>Richie hummed an unconvinced kind of sound.</p>
<p>“Just<em> you. </em>To a <em>fair...</em>” Ben raised his eyebrows and gave him a pointed look.</p>
<p>Warmth crept up Richie’s neck and he groaned. “Fuck. You’re right. Shit, what if it is a date?”</p>
<p>“You’re only just realising this?” Ben chuckled. “I thought that’s why you were here.”</p>
<p>“I just wanted to spend more time with him!” Richie’s voice wobbled precariously on cracking again. (It was endlessly embarrassing that he was twenty and his voice still cracked when he got emotional.) “We’ve been studying so hard recently it feels like I never get to see him, and when he asked me, he was doing that thing where he looks at me.”</p>
<p>“That thing where he looks at you?”</p>
<p>“Yeah! You know! With his eyes!”</p>
<p>Ben chuckled harder. “Isn’t that what everyone does?”</p>
<p>“No, not with Eddie, man, it’s like- have you <em>seen </em>his eyes? It’s not like I could have given him the real reason for blowing him off either, like, ‘sorry, Eds, I’ll be too busy running around on four legs and chasing after Derry’s local rabbit population to go to the fair with you, have fun though’.” Richie clicked his tongue and made finger-guns with both hands. He snorted one derisive laugh and flattened his ears. “Nah, there’s no way Eddie would want to go on a date with me. Even without knowing about my monthly extracurricular activities. That’s just not happening. It’s like he said, he just wants someone to show him around.”</p>
<p>“He could have asked any of us though, and he asked you,” Ben pointed out softly.</p>
<p>Richie groaned and ruffled his hands roughly through his hair. “Hey, c’mon, don’t give me hope like that.”</p>
<p>Ben held up his hands in surrender and went back to taking his notes, but after a few more minutes he placed the tip of the quill to his chin and looked back up. “You really chase rabbits?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Richie sighed.</p>
<p>Ben looked a little torn at that and Richie snorted. “Hey, you’ve got how many frogs up there” – Richie gestured to a shelf filled with jars of preserved frogs – “but you’re sad that I go after the bunnies?”</p>
<p>“Rabbits are cute…”</p>
<p>“And they taste great and provide my little wolf brain with hours of amusement.”</p>
<p>“Oh, so you don’t chase them on purpose?”</p>
<p>Richie shook his head. “Nah. I just can’t help myself. If it’s small and furry and moves – game on. Man, even if I could tell Eddie about all of this I probably wouldn’t anyway. I don’t think I’d want him to see me like that. I’m an absolute dumbass as a wolf.” He grinned. “And don’t say I am as a human too anyway.”</p>
<p>“I would never!” Ben replied instantly with a good-natured smile, and Richie couldn’t stop the thought that, no, <em>Ben</em> wouldn’t, but Eddie absolutely would have. Amusement and affection warmed him at the thought of how quickly Eddie would have taken that bait and fired a shot at him. He missed Eddie so much and wanted to see him so badly that he knew he was already in way too fucking deep.</p>
<p>He felt a renewed hope that this was going to work and that they’d spend a nice, normal night at the fair, whether it was a date or not.</p>
<p>Richie had always wanted to go anyway.</p>
<p>He realised Ben had placed the quill on the desk, and that there was an intensely interested gleam in his eyes as he looked at him. Richie was reminded of the fact that he was basically living in a library he’d made for himself and lived as a hermit for years doing nothing but studying.</p>
<p>“So, you’re not… <em>you</em>… when you transform?”</p>
<p>“Not exactly, but also yes,” Richie said, with a flick of his tail. “It’s complicated.”</p>
<p>“Are you dangerous?” Ben asked in a small, almost apologetic voice, like he was sorry to ask, but had to know.</p>
<p>“No way! It’s hard to describe… I’m still the Richie Tozier you all know and love – my personality doesn’t change, but complicated thoughts are too hard to process, because they’re too human or something? I’m still there, but it’s like thinking through mud? I can do complicated stuff, but it’s hard, so I don’t usually bother. Just be a wolf for the night.” Richie scratched the base of one his ears, where the wiry fur blended into the skin of his scalp, a little self-conscious to be saying this stuff out loud. “Last month it had been raining and I spent a full ten minutes barking at my own reflection in a puddle.”</p>
<p>Ben laughed from somewhere deep within his chest and there were tears in the corners of his eyes as he wiped them with the sleeves of his robes. “No way.”</p>
<p>“I’m serious!” Richie chuckled. “And then there was this one month when I’d been pulling some serious all-nighters to meet an assignment deadline, so transforming just wrecked me, and I ended up sleeping the whole night in Mike’s barn.”</p>
<p>“Really?” Ben laughed even louder.</p>
<p>“Ask him! He brought me coffee and let me borrow his clothes. Huh, that’s how we met actually. He stumbled across some naked guy sleeping in the hay and brought him coffee and clothes. What a guy.”</p>
<p>“That sounds like Mike.” Ben smiled fondly. “So you’re just, back to normal in the morning?”</p>
<p>“Hm? Oh yeah, it’s go time as soon as the sun sets on the night of the full moon” – Richie mimed fangs with his fingers at his lips – “then as soon as it rises the next morning” – he gestured to himself with a flourish – “naked Richie with a belly full of rabbits and the odd stolen chicken, with bones that feel like jelly.”</p>
<p>“Wow…” There was a new respect in the way Ben looked at him, but Richie didn’t feel like he deserved it. He probably seemed so well adjusted now, but Ben hadn’t seen how many years he’d spent trying to deny his condition – hating that he couldn’t make it stop – and trying to not think about it all month, until the one night that he had to face it. Pretending the problem didn’t exist had made him pretty fucking miserable, so he was glad he’d found friends like Stan and Bill who helped him to accept himself better – and then he met Mike who was so chilled out about seeing a werewolf that it almost made Richie feel totally normal. He’d initially been a little bitter about the dynamics changing When Ben and Bev joined the group, but he was so close to them both now that it was like they’d all been friends the whole time anyway. Eddie appeared on the scene the most recently, when he moved to Derry to go to college, but although he fit right into the group, Richie was still doubtful over whether he’d want to know any of them if he found out what they were. Ben felt bad for the rabbits he inevitably hunted on his full moon nights, but he couldn’t imagine Eddie’s reaction would be anything short of downright revulsion.</p>
<p>Ben saying, “Maybe I will write a book…”, jolted Richie out of his head.</p>
<p>“Just don’t tell any of this to anyone.” Richie grinned, desperately trying to mask the deep fissure of hurt he’d opened in his chest from his last train of thought. “Especially about Mike’s farm. He’s been sworn to secrecy too. I’ll never live it down.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I won’t, I promise!”</p>
<p>“Thanks, Haystack.”</p>
<p>Ben smiled at the unexpected nickname and returned his attention to his notes. The quill scratched across the page with a speed that both impressed and terrified Richie, considering he couldn’t read a word of what it said. Seeing the feather dance like that made him think of Bev’s beautiful red wings. He wondered what she would think of what they were doing, and he thought of the last time they’d sat and shared a cigarette together on the roof of her apartment building. He’d been more open and honest with her than he’d ever been with anyone in his life – and he considered that if he’d never had that conversation with her, he probably wouldn’t have been able to say half of what he’d said to Ben. Like a warm-up for having heart-to-hearts. Fucking opening your chest out and laying your heart bare for someone else to see was terrifying.</p>
<p>Richie knew that Bev had a soft spot for Ben, so he hoped that she wouldn’t be mad with what he’d asked him to do. But he thought that she’d want to support him too.</p>
<p>Man, friendship was hard.</p>
<p>Ben jumped up from his seat, startling Richie again, and looked at a line of bottles on a shelf nearby. He grabbed at one and placed it next to the open book, scribbling more notes down. He looked back up at Richie, excitement practically sparkling in his eyes. “I think I’ve figured something out.”</p>
<p>“Yes, Haystack!”</p>
<p>“But it’s going to take a few hours to brew, and I’m going to need to concentrate…” Ben pursed his lips together and looked at Richie pointedly.</p>
<p>“Your version of ‘Richie, you’re distracting so please fuck off’ is so soft, I love it.”</p>
<p>Ben paled. “No- no, I didn’t mean- you can stay if you want to, but you’ll just have to be really <em>quiet</em>.”</p>
<p>“I’m just teasing, man. The <em>Q word </em>is basically my kryptonite-”</p>
<p>“Your what?”</p>
<p>“-so I’m definitely getting out of your hair.” Richie stretched his arms above his head and his tail straight out behind him. “I should probably think about what I’m wearing tonight anyway.”</p>
<p>“Wow, Eddie’s getting you in clean clothes? You really do like him.”</p>
<p>“I never said they’d be clean,” Richie pointed out with a laugh as he turned to go. He stopped when he got to the large wooden door. “Really though, thank you. I mean it. Even if it doesn’t work. Thank you for trying.”</p>
<p>Ben flashed him a smile as he left.</p>
<p>---------</p>
<p>Richie squinted at the sun as he emerged outside. Ben’s underground basement had been lit with candles and cauldron fires, so it was nice to see a bit of daylight again. He closed Ben’s front door with a click, rested his forehead on the cool door for a moment, and hoped his heart would slow down. He just needed a minute. That was one of the scariest things he’d ever done. Not only did he talk about his condition so openly, but he basically admitted to being in love with his friend.</p>
<p>Richie pulled his glasses off with one hand and scrubbed the other over his face.</p>
<p>“Well, fuck Tozier,” he breathed, “cat’s outta the bag now. Or wolf. Wolf’s outta the bag… Wolf’s outta the bag doesn’t have the same ring to it. Why would anyone put a wolf in a bag anyway? Who’s going to have a bag big enough?” He placed his glasses back on his nose and sucked in a deep breath.</p>
<p>Looks like he had a few hours to kill.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. I am a wolf</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Conversations are all about what's said and what isn't.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I can't tell you how much fun I had writing this chapter. Dialogue is like, my newest favourite thing to write. Especially between these two losers</p><p>I can't wait to write more of this - the supernatural elements just increase with every chapter!</p><p>Thank you so much again to the wonderful beta reader of this chapter <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiKidsDoYouLikeViolence/pseuds/richie-tozier-is-my-eboy">Aiyana
</a> for looking this over for me and checking everything was okay ;; much appreciated!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He ended up at Eddie’s house. Which was a stupid idea even amongst the other stupid ideas he’d had, because of course, his mom’s car was sat shining obnoxiously on the driveway.</p><p>He knew that she didn’t even go anywhere – Eddie had already told him the car was just for medical emergencies, because she didn’t trust ambulances. And Eddie had never been allowed to take lessons.</p><p>He glared at the driveway, annoyed that he didn’t know enough about cars to even know what kind of car it was. He hated it anyway. Seeing it there just reminded him that she never left the house, and that she would never let him in. He’d tried to knock on the door a few times, when they’d first started hanging out, but she always glared at him and said that Eddie was too busy to go anywhere – like he was twelve fucking years old and Richie was asking if he could come out and play!</p><p>And the worst part was that she’d brainwashed Eddie into thinking he needed her permission too!</p><p>Richie turned away from the Kaspbrak house with a scowl and nearly stalked straight through Bill. “Holy fuck!” he shrieked as he leapt backwards. “Would you stop doing that!”</p><p>Bill smiled, probably going for innocent, but the little shit just looked as smug as always at making Richie jump again. “S-Suh-Sorry. I can never r-resist.”</p><p>The sunlight went hazy where it partially shone through Bill, giving him the appearance of someone made of smoke. He was hard to focus on unless Richie looked hard, and even then, sometimes he would flicker in and out of looking almost solid enough to touch and barely there at all.</p><p>“Does Eddie know that y-you’ve become his stalker?”</p><p>“I’m not stalking him, Billiam. I just came by to see if his mom was home.”</p><p>“She’s a-a-always home.”</p><p>“Lucky me,” Richie said with a wink and a wiggle of his eyebrows.</p><p>“Beep b-beep, Richie.” Bill shook his head with a fond smile. “I can’t believe you’ll m-muh-make jokes about Eddie’s mom while he’s not even h-here.”</p><p>“They’ve transcended the need for him to hear them. They’re a part of me now.”</p><p>Bill folded his skinny arms over his flannel shirt in a show of his disapproval and Richie once again wondered how it would feel to never be able to ever change clothes. They didn’t even rustle when he moved. “You ever get tired of flannel?” came out of his mouth before he could stop it.</p><p>“Well, it’s the clothes I duh-d-died in,” Bill said with a wry smile, “so y-yeah, Richie. I do get k-kind of tired of looking at them.”</p><p>Richie held both his hands up and his ears flattened to his head. “I’ll just beep beep myself on that one.”</p><p>“G-Good idea.”</p><p>There was a moment of quiet before Richie – with the tact of someone unable to stop picking at a scab – barrelled on with, “Well, at least you didn’t die naked, like, if you were taking a shower and had a heart attack or something. Or if you had to wear your pants and underwear around your ankles forever because you died taking a sh-”</p><p>“I hear you’ve been invited to the Full M-Moon fair this month.” Bill’s voice interrupted him quietly, but with all the power of a knife slicing straight through his words. It was always like that with Bill, he didn’t need the volume when he had the authority.</p><p>“What the fuck? Who told you?”</p><p>“Mike.”</p><p>“How the fuck did Mike know?”</p><p>“Eddie t-t-told him.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>Richie tried not to think about what that meant – that Eddie had spoken to Mike about taking him to the fair. Would he have told him in an excited way? Would Mike have told him it was a bad idea?</p><p>“I’m just s-surprised you agreed,” Bill continued in a level voice, his usually pale eyes suddenly seeming very bright and clear.</p><p>Richie squirmed under the intensity of his gaze. “So… Okay, look. I might have done something stupid, and possibly a little bit reckless and could maybe be considered a total mistake, but- hear me out…”</p><p>Bill was not going to like this.</p><p>But before he could find a way to explain, Bill’s attention moved to just over Richie’s shoulder. “You should probably duck,” he said.</p><p>“What- <em>Ow!</em> Shit!” Richie hissed as something collided with the back of his head and bounced to the ground nearby.</p><p>Bill was laughing with a mischievous ring that Richie didn’t hear from him much. It made him sound how old he looked, and he wished he would do it more often. But he still flipped him off as he looked down to see a brown slipper upside down on the sidewalk. When he picked it up, with one hand rubbing the back of his head, he noticed the small teddy bear pattern stitched into the fabric.</p><p>Richie’s wolf ears angled backwards to catch the hissing sound of someone whispering his name as loudly as they could, and he jolted in surprise as he recognised the voice. He whipped around to see Eddie’s torso hanging out of his window, ridiculously adorable baby-blue polo-neck shirt and all. He cupped his hands around his mouth as whispered his name again, then waved an arm in the air.</p><p>Richie’s tail wagged enthusiastically, and he grabbed it to keep it still, despite Eddie not being able to see it anyway. He didn’t really want Bill to see him like that either, but when Richie turned to provide a come-back to whatever comment that he was going to make about it, Bill had gone.</p><p>Eddie whispered his name loudly again and Richie shrugged as he jogged across the road, slipper still in hand.</p><p>As he got closer Richie pulled his arm back as if he were going to throw the slipper like a baseball, even adding in a little skip for momentum as he went, and Eddie waved his arms frantically with a scowl. “Don’t fucking throw that back in here!” he hissed.</p><p>Richie chuckled as he slowed down directly beneath the window. He rolled the slipper over in his hands as he looked up. “Gotta admit, Eds, I would never have put money on ‘death by Edward Kaspbrak’s teddy bear slippers’ on the way that I’m going to go.”</p><p>“I love that you referred to me twice in one sentence and didn’t use my correct name once.”</p><p>“Edward <em>is</em> your name, Spaghetti.”</p><p>Eddie groaned and leaned over the sill further. “You know what I mean, dickwad.”</p><p>“Yeah, because the names you use for me are so much better.”</p><p>“Shh,” Eddie hushed frantically, lowering his voice again, “my mom’s in the living room.”</p><p>Richie opened his eyes wide behind his glasses, knowing it would make them even wider, to add to the effect of his innocent, “I just left her there, did you not hear us? That’s why I was here in the first place. She’ll be too blissed out to move for a while though, don’t worry.”</p><p>Eddie made a gagging noise and brandished the other slipper in his hand. “I’ll throw this.”</p><p>“You nearly gave me a fucking concussion with the first one. This close you’d probably kill me.” Richie felt his heart practically skipping in his chest as they bickered back and forth and struggled to keep his tail still. He could barely see the frown on Eddie’s face from where he was on the ground (the irony of having acute wolf hearing versus his terrible human eyesight was not lost on him) but he knew it was there. One of his favourite Eddie Kaspbrak expressions.</p><p>“I hope you’ll come visit me in hospital when I end up there with a deadly slipper-induced brain injury.”</p><p>Instead of the response Richie expected Eddie looked away and mumbled, “Ah, yeah, I’m- sorry about your head.”</p><p>Richie had only ever heard Eddie apologise a small handful of times, so he knew he should just act his age and accept it with humility or some shit. But instead, he put on an exaggerated Voice and said, “That was a mighty fine throw for someone with them there spaghetti arms.” He wobbled his arms in the air for effect.</p><p>“It’s just impossible to miss your big head!” Eddie shot back immediately, which made Richie snort with laughter. He checked over his shoulder in a panic, but Richie could still hear the television in the living room, and there was no other movement that he could detect. “Just get in here already,” Eddie hissed as he retreated away from his window.</p><p>Richie stuffed the slipper into the back pocket of his jeans, ignoring the strain it put onto the stitching, and went to get the trashcan. Dry grass crunched beneath his sneakers as he walked around the house, and he wrinkled his nose at the smell of the dead garden. It wasn’t hard to believe that Sonia Kaspbrak wouldn’t be a gardener, since it required actually getting up from the sofa, but he hated that Eddie wouldn’t touch any of the greenery either, for fear of the allergies Richie knew he didn’t have.</p><p>He knew who had planted the seeds of that in his head though.</p><p>Richie pulled the trashcan from the side of the house, trying not to let it drag and make too much noise, and settled it underneath the window. He rocked it slightly to check the stability before he got onto it (because that was a mistake he was only going to make once) and hopped up.</p><p>Climbing into someone’s first floor bedroom window would be so much easier if werewolves really had super strength like in most of the human movies he’d watched, Richie thought petulantly. With super strength he could scale the side of the house in a single leap. No wobbly trashcans or sore fingers or aching arms.</p><p>But it’s not like he’d have been able to do that with Eddie anyway, he supposed, unless he was willing to try and explain how he could jump so high to someone who still thought he was human.</p><p>Richie wobbled and kept his tail straight out for balance as he stood tall on the lid, adding enough to his height that he could grip onto the small section of roof that jutted out from the back porch. He hoisted himself up with some effort and had a short break, balanced precariously on the narrow strip of roof. He also hated that the movies always made climbing into someone’s window so easy. Richie took a steadying breath before he leaned up and grabbed onto Eddie’s windowsill. He felt his arms strain as he jumped, and he tried to brace his feet against the brick to help himself up, but as he neared the top his left foot slipped. A yelp burst out of lips before he could stop it.</p><p>Immediately there was a vice-like grip around his wrist that steadied Richie enough to find his balance and another hand tugged at his shoulders to help him the rest of the way. He tumbled onto Eddie’s floor with a loud groan.</p><p>“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is just good parkour,” Richie said breathlessly.</p><p>Eddie was standing over him with his hands on his hips. Richie’s glasses had skewed on his face from his fall, so Eddie was a little blurry, but he still appreciated how the blue of his polo accented the dark brown of his eyes and the perfect wave of his cowlicked fringe in a cute preppy way, even if the top button was undone, and the collar was ironed a little lopsidedly. Richie grinned up at him, trying to keep his eyes on his face and not his shorts.</p><p>“Do you do any exercise?” Eddie groused. “You’re always poking fun at my ‘spaghetti arms’ but yours are like- like limp noodles.”</p><p>“Ah, Eddie my dear, there’s no amount of exercising that exists that can prepare these guns to hold the full weight of all this…” Richie gestured to himself, which only added to the hilarity of his statement because he was still on his back, sprawled out on Eddie’s floor trying not to breathe too heavily and show just how much effort the climb had been. “Besides,” he huffed, “climbing through my best friend’s window is my exercise.”</p><p>Eddie scoffed – a single forceful breath out of his nose – but he smiled too. “If you don’t try and get into some kind of shape you could fall and break something next time, just saying. And it won’t be my fault.”</p><p>“Won’t be your fault? It’s your window!”</p><p>“If you fell from this height it wouldn’t be fatal though. Unless you landed on your back. If it didn’t kill you immediately it could paralyse you for life. So don’t fall backwards. It would be better to drop straight down and break your ankles- although there’s a chance that if you break them badly enough you might never walk again anyway.”</p><p>“You have such a sweet way with words, Eds. Your pillow talk must be amazing.” Richie clutched his hands to his chest and put on a sultry voice to whisper, “You wanna hear the probabilities of dying from falling from a first-floor window?”</p><p>Eddie flipped him off with a huff that only made Richie grin at a job well done. “Are you planning on lying there all day?” Eddie asked. “Or are you getting up any time soon?”</p><p>“That’s what your mom said to me earlier,” Richie replied automatically, then seemed to think about it and frowned. “No wait. That implies I have trouble getting it up – which I don’t by the way – so I take that back.”</p><p>“One, you’re fucking gross. And two,” Eddie said wryly, “I think there’s some pills you can take if you’re having problems, Rich.”</p><p>“You only know about them because you already take them.”</p><p>“Yeah, your dad let me borrow his actually.”</p><p>Richie laughed so hard it came out as a horrifically embarrassing snort through his nose. “Eds gets off a fucking good one again.” He was lucky he was still lying down because his tail had little range of movement and couldn’t wag, even though he felt it trying to.</p><p>Richie often felt like they’d both got the maturity of twelve-year-olds when they started bickering, and they’d been told the same thing by their long-suffering friends too. But sometimes their childish antics rewarded him with one of his favourite sights: Eddie’s face breaking into a smile so wide it crinkled his eyes and revealed the dimples in his cheeks. Even somewhat lopsided and upside down, because of his position on the floor, it made something twist and dance in Richie’s stomach.</p><p>It had been amazing how fast they’d just… clicked when they first met. It was like all the times Richie had made terrible jokes were just practice for his real audience.</p><p>“You’re making my room look messy.” Eddie made a big show of rolling his eyes, but Richie looked up in surprise at the hand he offered out to help him up. For someone who regarded human contact as one of the seven deadly sins Richie was often surprised at how easily Eddie would offer out his small touches to him; poking his arm to get him to pay attention, helping him through his window, bumping into his shoulder when they walked sometimes and holding out a hand to help him up. He was about to happily accept the generous offer when a soft, “Come on then, Noodle,” came out of Eddie’s mouth in a sigh. They both froze until Eddie jolted back and clapped his hands to his mouth.</p><p>Richie sat up so fast his glasses finally gave up and fell off, and he scrambled to put them on so quickly that he nearly stabbed himself in the eye. When he finally slammed them back on his face he could see – in full clarity – the pink creeping up Eddie’s neck and blooming through the scattered freckles on his nose.</p><p>“Eddie-”</p><p>“No. No, that was a mistake. Forget I said that.”</p><p>“Matching nicknames, Eddie-”</p><p>“Nope. No matching nicknames. That was just a slip of the tongue.”</p><p>“We can be” – Richie snorted loudly – “Spaghetti and Noodle.”</p><p>Eddie flapped his hands in a frantic shushing motion. “Shh, man. My mom’s downstairs.”</p><p>But he was smiling.</p><p>And that was worth any amount of climbing through windows.</p><p>Once Richie had calmed himself down Eddie held out his hand again, and this time he reached up and grabbed onto it firmly. And immediately wished he hadn’t because he suddenly realised that they were basically holding hands and that he was doomed to think about this moment for the next week at least.</p><p>Eddie’s hand was small in his.</p><p>If they linked fingers his tiny hand would just slot right into place.</p><p>As soon as he was on his feet Eddie let go, and Richie had to pretend that there wasn’t a canine whine curling in his chest at the loss of contact that he would rather gargle rocks than let out.</p><p>“You know…” Richie said in a light tone, clearing his throat a little. “None of this would even be a problem if you just moved to the student dorms like everybody else.” The, with me, he wanted to add was left unsaid. He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and hoped that he was feigning a casual enough attitude that Eddie wouldn’t be able to see any of the genuine sincerity behind the words.</p><p>Eddie sighed. “Not this again, Richie. I told you, I can’t leave my mom.”</p><p>“I’m not saying to like, kick her out of town, I’m just saying she could live here, and you could live… not here.”</p><p>Eddie ran a hand through his wavy hair. “The bargain for me going to college in the first place was that I stayed with her instead of staying in dorms. I was supposed to stay close to home, but the bursary Derry College offered was too good to pass up. Then instead of saying no, she packed everything up and moved us across the state just so she could make sure I was okay.” The, and look after me, that he implied was also left unsaid.</p><p>Richie let out an angry snort through his nose and his ears pulled back in disgust. The money. Of course a town full of monsters is going to offer bursaries to human college students to bring them in. And it was a system that fucking worked. When some of the human students went missing it was fine, because something about them being in the town made their families and friends outside the Derry limits forget about them. It meant that ironically, Sonia moving with Eddie was probably the only thing keeping him completely off-limits. Until they thought of a plan to get rid of them both, he supposed grimly. Richie just didn’t know what to do about that.</p><p>“She needs me,” Eddie pressed, but even he didn’t sound convinced.</p><p>Richie bit his lip as the need to continue arguing his case bubbled inside his chest and worry gnawed at his stomach, but for the first time that day he knew when to keep his mouth shut, and he only replied with an unconvinced hum. He didn’t want a fight. Especially one they’d already had and didn’t look like they were any nearer to coming to an agreement on.</p><p>Instead, Richie finally freed the slipper from his back pocket. “Love the teddies, by the way, very ‘this season’.”</p><p>Eddie grabbed it and put it straight on. “They were a Christmas present from my mom last year asshole,” he snapped. He looked down at Richie’s feet. “And take your gross shoes off in my room.”</p><p>“That’s cool, but these socks haven’t been washed in at least a week. Just so you know.”</p><p>“You’re bluffing. Not even you would be that disgusting.”</p><p>Richie tilted his head with a smirk, then bent down slowly towards his shoes.</p><p>He reached for his laces.</p><p>Eddie groaned loudly. “Fine. Fuck. Keep them on.”</p><p>Richie laughed with a snort, struggling to keep his volume down, and straightened up to his full height again. Eddie’s eyes followed his movements and glanced away.</p><p>The height difference between them wasn’t huge, but it was noticeable. Richie had always been tall and gangly as a young teenager and while he had retained his height, he had at least filled out a little now he was finally reaching his twenties, while Eddie looked like he had always been waiting for his growth spurt, and then realised it was never going to happen.</p><p>He’d probably have to tilt Eddie’s head up to kiss him-</p><p>“At least the imprint of your slippers will look good on the back of my skull,” Richie practically squeaked, trying desperately not to think of kisses and tiptoes. He scrubbed his fingers through his messy hair and willed that train of thought away.</p><p>Eddie winced, but it smoothed out quickly. “I already apologised for that. It was the only thing I had to hand to get your attention with. I actually didn’t expect to hit you.”</p><p>“Wow, well you have got a freakishly good throwing arm.”</p><p>“I just wanted to get your attention...” Eddie continued slowly, “because, it’s so weird… before I threw the slipper, it kind of looked like you were talking to someone. But there was nobody there.”</p><p>Richie felt the pit of his stomach drop away and his wolf ears flattened down completely. His throat was dry, but he managed to force out a single dry laugh. “Oh?”</p><p>“Yeah, it looked like you were having a conversation…” Eddie’s huge dark eyes locked onto his own, and it felt like he could see right down to his soul. Richie felt the full force of both wanting to grab him and kiss him and of wanting to launch himself back out the window.</p><p>“Nope,” Richie said, popping the ‘p’, “just me, as you saw.” He tore his eyes away before he confessed to every single dark secret Derry was hiding.</p><p>He occupied himself with looking around at Eddie’s tiny room – even smaller than Richie’s room at the Derry College Student Dorms. There was a tidy pile of books on his desk, which he was glad Eddie hadn’t used to throw at him or he really would have a concussion. The titles were stuff like, ‘Business and Statistics’, ‘Analysing Profit’, and ‘Risks Beyond Profit Margins’, and just reading the titles was enough to make Richie stifle a yawn. There was also a narrow wardrobe, probably full of polo-shirts and shorts, and a perfectly made single bed – which Richie would not be focusing on.</p><p>The whole room was made up of beige and cream colours that made it look so impersonal and unlived in. He could use the excuse that they’d only been there a year, but Richie had had his current dorm room for the same amount of time, and it was completely covered in posters and flyers. (He already knew how much of a pain it was going to be to take all of it down when he graduated.)</p><p>“So, what’s with getting me to climb up here anyway, Eds?” Richie asked, shaking himself out of his head and changing the subject.</p><p>Eddie looked momentarily confused, as if he hadn’t thrown a slipper at him to get his attention and then asked him to climb through his bedroom window. Or maybe that was just a normal request to him.</p><p>Admittedly, they did do this more often than Richie supposed should be considered normal.</p><p>But when Eddie was locked inside his own house it was sometimes the only way they could hang out. (Which was ridiculous because he was nineteen and should be allowed to see whoever he wanted whenever he wanted.)</p><p>It was just unfortunate that Sonia Kaspbrak hated him so much. She didn’t even know that he was a werewolf! He expected that any sensible parent would want to keep a werewolf away from their child, but since she didn’t know, he just couldn’t understand what her problem was.</p><p>Eddie looked suddenly sheepish and fiddled with the buttons on his polo-shirt. “I just, uh, I wanted to know what to wear later. For the Full Moon Fair,” he clarified, as if it weren’t the deadline looming on Richie’s horizon all day. “I don’t want to look stupid – fucking overdressed or underdressed or whatever.”</p><p>
  <em>Oh, fuck. </em>
</p><p>“What sort of thing does everyone wear?”</p><p>“Oh, y’know,” Richie said vaguely, “just the normal kind of stuff. Whatever you want to wear is fine.” He walked over to Eddie’s desk and perched on the end, trying to look as casual as possible, even though he knew Eddie had no reason to suspect that he had absolutely no idea because he’d never been.</p><p>Eddie went straight over and tugged at his unbuttoned shirt to pull him off the desk, and Richie allowed himself to be moved with no resistance. “Don’t put your ass on the place I do all my work,” Eddie groused.</p><p>“Then get, like, a sofa or something.”</p><p>“There’s a perfectly good bed right there!”</p><p>Richie’s mind screeched to such a sudden halt that he barely heard the nervous bark of a laugh that bubbled out of him without his permission. But Eddie had already walked away.</p><p>The bed springs creaked as he sat down.</p><p>(Which Richie’s sensitive wolf ears magnified and made horrifically louder.)</p><p>Eddie sat on his boring beige bed quilt and glared at him with his chin angled up defiantly, as if he were waiting for him to make a joke and had a retort ready for it. But for once Richie was completely speechless. He heard his own throat click as he swallowed loudly – frozen to the spot. He was doomed. He was nineteen years old and he had a crisis over being helped up because he’d never even held someone’s hand and now Eddie had just invited him to do nothing more than sit on his bed with him and his palms were sweating. He was so fucking bad at this. How was he going to cope with a whole evening at the fair with him? And that was only if Ben could successfully make the potion. God, he hoped Ben could make the potion.</p><p>“I’m not sure your dinky dollhouse bed deserves to be referred to as ‘perfectly good’,” eventually came out of his mouth.</p><p>Eddie threw him a withering look. “Just sit down, asshole.”</p><p>“Aye aye, cap’n.” Richie took a few paces back, stretched out his legs, and crouched down low into the starting position of a professional runner. He rubbed his hands together and placed his fingertips to the ground while he tried not to laugh at the increasingly panicked, “Richie, Richie don’t even think about jumping on here. Richie!”, that he could hear coming from Eddie. He propelled himself forwards and was about to only mime jumping when Eddie leaped up with a shriek and brought his hands to his chest to stop him.</p><p>Which he hadn’t expected.</p><p>Their torsos crashed together and they both fell to the mattress – Eddie onto his back and Richie with his hands placed either side of Eddie’s head, that he’d thrown out just in time to prevent him from crushing his friend.</p><p>Eddie’s eyes were wide beneath him.</p><p>This close he could nearly count his freckles.</p><p>Make it a joke, Richie thought desperately, make it a joke and play it off as funny. Think of something funny! But he couldn’t think over the static of how desperately he wanted to close the gap between them, and his mouth opened uselessly with no sound.</p><p>“Eddie-Bear! I heard noises, are you okay?” The thin voice of Sonia Kaspbrak cut through the tension like a knife and Richie leaped backwards with so much force that he tripped over his own frayed shoelaces and crashed down to Eddie’s carpet.</p><p>“What was that?” she demanded. “I heard a bang.”</p><p>“Nothing, ma!” Eddie yelled through his door, but his voice was pitched higher than usual and it caught strangely on his first word. He jumped to his feet. “I’m fine! I just dropped my – uh – my book.” He glanced over at Richie. “A big stack of books.”</p><p>Richie rubbed vigorously at the base of his tail, wincing with the pain shooting up from where he’d fallen.</p><p>“I heard voices,” Sonia accused, her voice somewhat muffled by the door.</p><p>Richie prayed she didn’t open it.</p><p>“Uh… That was just me listening to the radio,” Eddie explained as he reached over and hovered his hand above the doorknob, ready to keep the door closed. Of course he didn’t have a lock.</p><p>“Okay Eddie-Bear. But you’re supposed to be getting some rest, not listening to the radio and reading. Or if you’re feeling better you could come down and get dinner prepared.”</p><p>“No!” Eddie burst out. He cringed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I mean, I still feel really sick. The radio was just- just to distract me, because I feel so bad.”</p><p>“Have you gotten worse? Do you need me to take your temperature? Are you feeling feverish? I should just take you to the hospital.” Sonia’s sickly-sweet voice made Richie’s ears flatten to his head. </p><p>“No, ma, I’m feeling better. I don’t need the hospital. But I’m still really contagious, everything I touch up here will be contaminated. You should stay away so you don’t catch it. I’m probably just going to sleep for the rest of the evening anyway, so uh- don’t check on me,” he rambled.</p><p>“Okay then, but make sure you turn the radio off and put those books down. You need rest, not silly distractions. If you’re no better by the morning I’m taking you to the hospital.” Richie heard her back away and realised that if he hadn’t been so caught up in trying not to freak out before he’d have heard her come to the door in the first place.</p><p>Sonia trudged back down the stairs and he heard the sofa groan as she deposited herself back onto it.</p><p>Eddie let out a long breath and sat heavily back onto the bed. After a moment of silence Richie opened his mouth to say something, and Eddie fixed him with a stern look.</p><p>“Beep beep Richie. Whatever you’re going to say, just fucking don’t. Okay?”</p><p>Richie’s wolf ears immediately flattened to his head, but he managed to keep the matching expression from flashing across his face. (He tried not to think about it too deeply that his humanity was much better at masking his feelings than any parts of him that were the wolf.) He heaved himself up to his feet and wondered slowly over to the bed, sitting down just as heavily beside Eddie – staring at his hands in his lap. He curled his tail away from him.</p><p>“Sorry,” Eddie mumbled. “I just… Sorry.”</p><p>“Are you really not feeling well? Because if any of that was the truth you don’t have to come later,” Richie said softly, trying not to feel the ache in his chest that that thought provoked.</p><p>Eddie looked up; his big brown eyes were wide with his apology. “No. None of it’s true. I’m totally fine, really. I just know that she won’t let me…” He groaned and ran a hand through his wavy hair. “’Won’t let me’ sounds so fucking stupid, right?”</p><p>Richie possessed the rare insight to keep his mouth shut this time. But he still shook his head.</p><p>“You know what she’s like about me being out after dark,” Eddie continued, “so I knew she’d never let me go to the fair. I told her I’d got the stomach flu. Highly contagious. Because it’s the only thing that’ll keep her from checking up on me later. I figured I’d just sneak out and sneak back in and have a miraculous recovery in the morning and she’d never know.”</p><p>Richie had little experience in being the kind of person to comfort someone or being confided in. But for Eddie he was willing to try.</p><p>“Why don’t you just tell her? Explain that you’ll be at a fair with lots of other people, and of course, I’ll be there as your knight in shining armour to protect your virtue and innocence.”</p><p>Eddie scoffed and looked up at him from beneath his eyelashes. “Are you kidding? She’d lock me up. She knows you’re a bad influence on me, Tozier.”</p><p>Richie felt the echoes of his last name in Eddie’s voice reverberating through him right down to his toes. “Me? I think you’re the bad influence, Kaspbrak.”</p><p>Eddie’s playful grin twitched up the corners of his lips.</p><p>“Anyway, you’re old enough to be making your own decisions about where and when you go places. And who with.”</p><p>“I know,” Eddie sighed. “She just wants to…”</p><p>
  <em>Manipulate you… Smother you… </em>
</p><p>“…keep me safe.”</p><p>“Hm.” Richie knew he sounded unconvinced, but it hurt him to see Eddie stifled like that and buying into all her lies and twisted love. If it was love at all. “Hey, if you can use the stomach flu as such a good excuse why don’t you use it more often?”</p><p>“Yeah, trust me, that doesn’t work. I figured out in high school that if I use it more than a couple of times a year, I end up in the hospital for a check up and then I’m confined to the house for a week anyway while I ‘rest up’, because she doesn’t trust the hospital’s assessment of my clean bill of health.”</p><p>“Yikes,” Richie burst out. He expected a comment from Eddie, but he just sighed again. “Wait,” he said slowly as he realised something, “if you’re using that excuse for tonight though, that means you’re like, playing the ace from up your sleeve. You win the hand, but that’s it. The ace is gone.” He gasped. “This is your get out of jail free card, Eds.”</p><p>“Well yeah. I mean, the fair sounds like fun. I’ve been wanting to go to one of these since we moved here. My mom was never going to come with me, or let me go, so I’ve had to improvise.” He shrugged, but he sounded a little sheepish. “And, it’ll be cool that you can show me round.”</p><p>Images of Ben not being able to make the potion and having to let him down flashed through Richie’s mind. <em>No pressure. </em></p><p>“And… I’ve never actually been to a real fair before,” Eddie added.</p><p>“Me neither,” Richie replied, still caught up thoughts of what he was going to do if Ben couldn’t make the potion.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Uh- I mean- me neither, until I moved here too.”</p><p>Eddie leaned over and knocked his shoulder into Richie’s. “I know. I’m a loser. You don’t have to pretend you’re just as lame as me.”</p><p>“Oh good, I think I’m allergic to deep conversations, I’m starting to itch.” Richie scratched his bare arms and shivered.</p><p>“That was a deep conversation to you? You only went a couple of minutes before referencing monopoly,” Eddie said.</p><p>Richie flashed a grin at him, unable to contain the affection and the happiness he got from being together with him like this and he swore he saw pink bloom across his freckled nose. “You know this means we need to have a monopoly game night with the other losers now. That’s what my sub-conscious was trying to tell me.”</p><p>Eddie frowned. “What the fuck, please do not tell me you just referred to our friends as <em>the other losers.</em>”</p><p>“Sorry, you’re right,” Richie cleared his throat and put on a British accent, “the other losers and us.”</p><p>“I’m not even going to ask.”</p><p>“It’s something Stan said, and then something Ben said, and then what you just said.”</p><p>“About being a loser?”</p><p>“Yeah. That’s what we all are. Losers together.” Richie tilted his head to one side as if deep in thought. “Now we’ve got a gang name I feel like we need to seal it with some kind of handshake.” His ears perked up as he opened his eyes wide. “Blood pact-”</p><p>“Nope. No no. No. No blood pacts. Jesus.” The bed springs creaked as Eddie curled himself up and gagged.</p><p>“Okay, we can just spit in our hands and shake on it. No biggie.”</p><p>Eddie made a disgusted sound and swatted at Richie. “Oh my god- no! That’s just as bad!”</p><p>As Richie bent over in a fit of uncontrollable giggles Eddie leaned back over and swatted playfully at him again, but his hand flicked over one of Richie’s wolf ears. Richie jolted upright, his heart hammering in his chest. Every hair on his tail felt like it was standing up as if he’d been struck with an electric charge, and he could still feel the ghost of a touch on the soft skin of his ear. Fear constricted his throat, and he knew he’d made a mistake by reacting so abruptly and dramatically. <em>Shit! </em></p><p>Eddie blinked at him in confusion as he watched Richie’s reaction and slowly sat upright himself. He looked down at his hand and then his gaze slid up to somewhere just above Richie’s head. His brows were intensely furrowed, and Richie could almost hear his mind struggling to make sense of the contradiction between sight and touch. The enchantment over Derry worked on the mind – erasing and compensating for anything that didn’t look human, but it did nothing for the other senses. The human mind amazed Richie because it was so good at explaining away something it didn’t see, but he’d always suspected that Eddie’s natural desire to understand and ground everything in fact would make him harder to convince if he ever suspected something was off.</p><p>Nervous laughter bubbled out of Richie’s mouth. “What?”</p><p>“‘What’ back to you – what happened?”</p><p>Richie pushed all thoughts of his bristling tail and ears out of his mind – all Eddie could see was his expression, and he kept it schooled into a calm mask he was familiar with. “You caught one of my curls and it tugged. I’m being a big baby about it, and I jumped.” His voice was casual, and he thought he was doing a surprisingly good job of not looking like he was about to puke.</p><p>Eddie’s eyes narrowed and he looked down at his hand again. “I thought I felt…”</p><p>Richie swallowed down the nausea and laughed, pleased that the sound of it was more natural than before. “My hair’s even messier than usual today, okay I get it, geez, thanks for pointing it out. I’ll have a shower before we go to the fair, alright.” Richie shook his head like a dog for emphasis – shaking out his curls.</p><p>His tail was still bristling uncontrollably, and he longed to smooth the fur down flat.</p><p>Then a loud growling, gurgling sound filled the room and for a horrible second Richie wondered if he really was about to throw up, but both of Eddie’s hands flew to his stomach.</p><p>“Holy shit, was that your stomach!?”</p><p>Eddie leaned away and groaned. “I’m fucking hungry okay.”</p><p>Any residual tension was finally released as Richie laughed loudly and Eddie laughed alongside him even through his reminders to shush and be quiet because his mom was still downstairs.</p><p>“Your stomach-” Richie wheezed “-sounds like an angry bear.”</p><p>Eddie looked like he was trying to pout, but because of his smile it just made him look like he was in pain. “Thank you, asshole. I’m starving to death and you find it funny.”</p><p>“We could record that sound and put it on a nature documentary, dude.”</p><p>He managed a glare. “Fuck you. I’ve been pretending to have stomach flu, it’s not like my mom was going to bring me anything to eat, and it’s not like I can go down and eat anything or she’ll know I’m faking it. Or think I’ve had a miraculous recovery or something.”</p><p>“Your stomach sounds even angrier and more feral than you-”</p><p>“I’m not angry or feral,” Eddie said.</p><p>Richie pulled up his glasses and wiped tears from the corners of his eyes. “It sounds like it’s saying-” he pinched his nose and spoke in a nasally voice “-<em>Eddie, why are you treating me this way? Where is our sustenance?</em>”</p><p>Eddie snorted and gestured a hand wildly. “What is that? My stomach wouldn’t sound like that. You just said it sounded like a bear. Yours would sound like that.” Eddie pinched his nose and tried to copy Richie’s voice as he said, “<em>Richard, please, we need fruit, vegetables, vitamins…</em>”</p><p>Richie nearly lost it. He was nearly crying now and having to stifle the sound of his snorts of laughter behind his hand. Eddie joined in and it was like all the tension had been forgotten. “I eat vegetables,” Richie protested between laughter, “y’know, like, that pointy orange one.”</p><p>“Jesus, you know what a carrot is, you loser.”</p><p>“Sure, those things you pick out the ground and just-” Richie jumped to his feet and mimed pulling a carrot from the ground as if he’d picked it up and crunched his teeth straight into it.</p><p>“But you wash it first, right?” Eddie cut in, laughter fading.</p><p>Richie continued to mime eating his imaginary carrot and made satisfied humming sounds to accompany his pantomime.</p><p>“Richie. You wash it first? Please tell me you wash your fruit and vegetables.”</p><p>Richie mimed swallowing it down and licked his fingers, enjoying the wince of disgust Eddie threw him, and winked. “If you wash it first you don’t get the crunchy surprise gritty treats.”</p><p>The sound of Eddie gagging made him fall back into uncontrollable fits of laughter again.</p><p>“You- You can get all sorts of nasty shit from not washing fruit and vegetables. Oh my god. Have you not heard of e-coli? It’s- It’s a scientific fact – fact, Richie – that you can get fucking- all sorts of fucking germs from them. You could get salmonella or listeria- food poisoning!” Eddie accompanied each of his broken sentences with a hand gesture. His brows were low over his dark eyes and his nostrils flared with each of his dire warnings.</p><p>Richie loved it.</p><p>Richie loved him.</p><p>He smiled as Eddie calmed down enough to realise that Richie had played him. “Fuck off,” he said petulantly, making Richie grin. “I’ll kick you back out the window.”</p><p>“Nah, you wouldn’t do that. Statistically I could fall and break my back or fall onto my ankles and never walk again.”</p><p>Eddie giggled despite himself. “Well at least now I know you’re passively absorbing all this information even if you’re not actually paying attention.”</p><p>“I always pay attention to you,” came out of Richie’s mouth before he realised how sincere it sounded. Was that a weird thing to say to your friend?</p><p>“Anyway,” Eddie continued in an odd voice, staring intensely at the bed quilt he was sitting on, “since you seem determined to give me a heart attack before I even hit my twenties, you owe me – I don’t suppose you’ve got any food on you?”</p><p>If Richie had he would already have handed it over, but when the full force of Eddie’s huge, dark eyes snapped up to him he would have given him the clothes from his back if they were edible.</p><p>“Sorry, man. I got nothing.” Richie perked up. “No wait! I have this!” He rummaged into his pocket and brought out a pack of gum.</p><p>“Gum?”</p><p>“It’s not food but chewing it will make you a little less hungry. I think. Probably.”</p><p>“Maybe,” Eddie said.</p><p>Richie unwrapped it and offered him a stick. “I’ve been saving it for a special occasion, but you can have one.”</p><p>“Thanks, Richie.”</p><p>Richie felt his heart squeeze at Eddie’s tone and the way he popped the gum straight into his mouth. For all his bitching and moaning about food poising he didn’t hesitate to have a piece of gum from the pack he produced from his pocket. He shook himself out of his thoughts and realised he’d been staring and was about to make a joke or excuse for it, but Eddie’s gaze was fixed just above his head again. And it was like he felt his hand brush over his sensitive wolf ear all over again. Richie shivered at the phantom sensation. If this was his reaction to him accidentally catching his hand on it, he shivered even harder at the thought of how it would feel to have him actually touch them on purpose…</p><p>But that was a stupid thought that he squashed immediately. Eddie could never know.</p><p>Richie looked at his wrist (he wasn’t even wearing a watch) and flourished it to Eddie. “Well, would ya look at the time? I’ve got to go and grab that shower and make myself presentable for tonight. I’ll buy us a truck load of junk food while we’re there-”</p><p>Eddie jumped to his feet. “No, you don’t have to-”</p><p>“-Yes I do! My treat, Spaghetti.”</p><p>Richie retreated to the window and felt his back bump into the sill. “You should probably put like, a bundle of clothes under the quilt later to make it look like you’re sleeping, just in case your mom checks in on you.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Eddie agreed, his voice quieter and softer than Richie was used to.</p><p>Neither of them moved.</p><p>Richie took a deep breath and threw a leg over the windowsill. “Right. Time to bail. I’ll see you later.” He really needed to stop acting like it was a certainty that he’d be there. God, what a mess he’d gotten into. “Meet me at the entrance to the fair at seven. You know where it is right? Okay, good. I’ll see you then.”</p><p>He couldn’t bear the sight of Eddie’s sad eyes anymore, so Richie saluted, said, “Farewell, Eddie my love,” in a high-pitched voice, then threw himself over the ledge to lower himself back down the way he had come.</p><p>If he turned his affections into a joke, he figured it would keep Eddie from suspecting anything. He wouldn’t joke about it if his feelings were real, right?</p><p>Once his sneakers touched the ground again Richie dragged the trashcan back to its place by the side of the Kaspbrak house and walked away without looking back. He wanted to see if Eddie was in the window so badly, but then he’d want to go back. Best to keep going.</p><p>He’d spent a while at Eddie’s, but he didn’t think he’d been gone long enough to go back to Ben’s yet – he didn’t want to disturb him.</p><p>Richie took in a deep inhale, focusing on the familiar scents of Derry – dust, grass, the nearby quarry, and a touch of magic – and kept moving forward. He’d see what tonight would bring, but his heart still felt like it was trying to process too many emotions at once and the lead weight of his worry sat heavy in his gut. He needed some help processing this shit.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Richie going on a one man world tour of Derry<br/>(Also happy birthday Richie!)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Richie is getting increasingly antsy as the full moon approaches, and seeks comfort in the open fields and nearby forest. Comfort isn't exactly what he gets though - he gets a good lesson in how fast gossip travels amongst a group of close friends...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So I figured it's time to take off my training wheels and just trust my gut with this thing from now on, so I'm rocking that no beta we die like men ride or die aesthetic this time (pray for me) but in all seriousness if you see something off, please let me know! (I have proof read this until I think I could probably rewrite it from memory, but I know those mistakes like to somehow make it through the cracks)</p><p>And as always, a huge huge thank you to everyone for their support so far!! (seriously, your support means so much)<br/>And I promise that we're actually going to the fair in the next chapter.....</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The preparations for the Full Moon Fair were already well under way.</p><p>Richie stood with his hands clutched over the bars of an iron gate that separated him from the field ahead – where he could see machinery and workers setting up the fair. A cluster of red balloons were tied to the gate next to him that swayed in the breeze.</p><p>Mike had told him that his family had been providing the use of some their disused farmland at the edge of town for years, and that the fair was a Derry tradition tracing back generations. The field itself was bordered by thick, dense forest, allowed to grow wild, and it was usually where Richie found himself most months – ironically never too far away from the very thing he was excluded from.</p><p>He felt his head clear as he took in a deep breath of the more rural air. He could smell the bitter oily machinery working on setting up the fair nearby, but underneath that was the sweet scent of leaves and leafy undergrowth drifting across from the forest. He drew in another lungful and felt his nerves calm. Being in town on the day of the full moon made him feel itchy and claustrophobic, and he increasingly longed for grass and trees and wind as the day wore on.</p><p>Richie scrunched his eyes shut and tried not to focus on his increasing queasiness and the feeling that something was ‘off’ – like he didn’t fit into his skin. It would only get worse as the moon approached.</p><p>A symphony of beeps, whirrs and clangs broke into Richie’s thoughts as trucks settled the rides and stalls into place and a group of volunteers yelled at each other to connect and check them over. The noise hurt Richie’s ears. He rubbed at one absentmindedly and realised it was the same one that Eddie accidentally brushed. Heat crept up the back of his neck as he felt the phantom echoes of the touch and he snatched his hand back to his side.</p><p>He focused on the shouts he could hear over the machinery:</p><p>“Hot dog stall goes next to the popcorn stand!”</p><p>“Hey, I need another power cable for the ferris wheel!”</p><p>“Can I get some more red balloons over here please?”</p><p>The commotion was exhausting to hear all at once, but it was kind of exciting too.</p><p>Richie had spent a whole year in Derry already, and every month he would stand in the same spot and watch the set-up, knowing he wasn’t going to ever get to go. He wasn’t sure why he bothered, because it only ever left him feeling miserable and jealous. Sometimes when he was a wolf, he would hear everyone having fun, and the human part of him would long to join in, while the wolf knew to steer clear and stick to the forest.</p><p>But this month was different.</p><p>(He hoped.)</p><p>Butterflies flapped so violently in his stomach he felt like he might throw up a bunch of them, and he recognised it as the same kind of nervous excitement he had before he performed on stage in the student bar – except then he had a script to fall back on and his nerves disappeared when the audience laughed at his jokes.</p><p>Richie wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans.  </p><p>He perked up when he caught sight of Mike in the distance, wearing a reflective yellow vest, instructing people from the clipboard in his hands. The workers consisted of mostly magical creatures and monsters, but there were a few humans there too – who all had no idea what sort of ‘people’ they were working alongside.</p><p> (Thinking about how the enchantment worked made Richie’s head hurt sometimes.)</p><p>He sighed and turned to go, but Mike suddenly whipped his head up and caught sight of him. He waved a cheery hand in greeting as their gazes locked and Richie hesitantly waved back. He said something to a man nearby, but Richie was too far away and there was too much noise to hear what he was saying, and the man nodded as Mike pointed in a couple of places, then passed over his clipboard. He leaped gracefully over exposed power cables that snaked across the field and picked his way with ease between abandoned tools and bits of scaffolding to make his way over.</p><p>He was barely out of breath when he arrived. Afternoon sunlight shined off the large, coiled ram’s horns on either side of his head that curved over and around his pointed ears. The horns were both scattered with tiny yellow flowers and strings of green vine that glowed slightly when he smiled. It created an effect that always made Richie want to smile back.</p><p>“Hey Rich! Thought I sensed you there.”</p><p>“Hi, Mikey. You know one of these days I’ll actually sneak away before you realise that I’m here.”</p><p>“Sorry, man,” he said warmly, “can’t sneak around near me.”</p><p>Richie sighed dramatically. “And that’s why we’ll never be able to play hide-and-seek.”</p><p>“It’s not that we’re too old to be playing hide-and-seek?”</p><p>“Nope. It’s the using your powers to cheat thing.”</p><p>Mike chuckled. “I guess it would put me at an unfair advantage.”</p><p>It used to bother Richie that Mike’s dryad powers worked on him too; he could sense when he was close, like he could with all animals, even when he was in his human form. It was a disappointing reminder that despite his mostly human appearance (besides the ears and tail) it didn’t change what he was inside.</p><p>He always appreciated that Mike never treated him any differently than their other friends though.</p><p>“I actually wasn’t gonna stay long, but I got caught up admiring your <em>simply marvellous</em> vest,” Richie trilled, putting on the ‘fashion designer’ voice he used to annoy Bev with.</p><p>“Brings out the colour of my horns, right?” Mike flashed him a playful grin and Richie felt some of his worries fade under the warmth of Mike’s smile.</p><p>He knew that Eddie spent a lot of time with Mike, and Richie felt like that was good for him.</p><p>“Makes you look <em>divine, darling</em>. But let’s be fair – you look good in every colour. Even neon yellow.”</p><p>Mike smiled bashfully. “You say that like you don’t own shirts even brighter and louder than this.”</p><p>“Damn you’re right.” Richie laughed and put a hand to his chin. “Maybe a vest like that is the final step up for me. Commit to the evolution from bright colours to actual florescent. Hey, I could wear it in the summer with nothing else underneath and it’ll keep me cool.” He held up his hands to his chest. “You think there’d be too much side-boob on show though? Don’t want to look like a builder themed stripper. I could get Bev to sew me a modesty panel or something, so it doesn’t drive Eddie’s mom wild for me.”</p><p>Mike gave a hearty laugh. “I don’t know, I’m pretty sure Bev would make the vest straps even thinner if the words ‘builder themed stripper’ were involved in any way.”</p><p>“Shit, you’re right – she’d consider it a crime to fashion to add a modesty panel to <em>anything</em>. I fucking love that Miss Marsh.”</p><p>Mike shook his head fondly with a smile. “And that’s as deep as I’m willing to go into your vest fantasy. Stan would tell me off for humouring you this much.”</p><p>“Ah, he can complain all he wants and roll his eyes until they get stuck like that, but he loves us and our weirdness really.”</p><p>“We all do,” Mike said. “But you know, you should really stop making jokes about Eddie’s mom – you know he doesn’t like it.”</p><p>“<em>Michael</em>,” Richie whined, letting just a tiny edge of canine cadence pitch it even higher, “that’s <em>why </em>I do it! When Eddie stops scrunching his nose and telling me I’m disgusting, then I’ll stop the jokes.”</p><p>“You’re both as bad as each other.”</p><p>“I’m taking that as a compliment.”</p><p>There was a bang from somewhere amongst the construction and Mike turned instantly at the sound. A piece of one of the stalls had fallen over, but nobody seemed hurt, and a group of people began lifting it back into place. The man that Mike had given the clipboard to ran over to the commotion and pointed as he waved the clipboard in the air.</p><p>“Grandpa put me in charge of supervising the set-up and clean-up this month,” Mike confessed as he turned back, pride deepening his voice, “so I need it to go perfectly to show him I’m ready for more responsibility.”</p><p>“What, seriously? Congrats on your promotion, dude!” Richie held up a hand for a high-five, but Mike grabbed it and pulled him in for a tight hug instead.</p><p>“Thank you!”</p><p>“But I thought you hated Derry,” Richie said as they pulled apart, then realised how mean it sounded just after Mike had been so proud. “Fuck, that came out wrong.”</p><p>Mike laughed. “No, it’s fine. You’re right, I do.” He glanced back at the rapidly emerging fair and flurry of activity behind him. “There’s something dark about this town. Something wrong. But it’s a place where we can all live out in the open without hiding and living in fear of being discovered – the enchantment on this town means everyone can walk down the street, and nobody bats an eyelid.” Mike gave a half smile and Richie knew he was thinking of the hassle they all got as a group when they went around town sometimes. “Well, mostly everyone. But I think that’s what the Full Moon Fair is. A celebration of that whole philosophy. A pinpoint of light in the dark. All of us and the humans here… once a month we just all have fun, and it doesn’t matter what you are.” He smiled again and the flowers on his horns glowed even brighter. “If I can be a part of that, I’m happy. I just want to show everyone that this is what it can be like all month – we don’t have to only be this united at the fair.”</p><p>Richie gave an amused, affectionate little huff. Mike was so full of light and <em>goodness</em>. “When you run for mayor one day, you’ll have my vote.” And he was surprised by how much he meant it. There was so much Mike could do to change Derry. Keep the humans safe…</p><p>“Hm, Mayor Hanlon. I like the sound of that.”</p><p>“I feel like your speeches might get a little wordy though,” Richie said with a shrug. “You could give them to me, and I’ll trim them down – inject a bit of humour. Nothing us magical creature folk love more than a bit of humour, right?”</p><p>“Oh yeah,” Mike chuckled, “that’s absolutely what we’re all known for. Our good sense of humour.” He glanced over at the organised chaos at the sound of another particularly loud clang. “Maybe it’s just something werewolves have.”</p><p>“Nah, I was hilarious even before I got bit.”</p><p>“I can believe that actually. I’ve been to your shows. Talent like that, you don’t just learn overnight.”</p><p>“Aw <em>shucks,</em>” Richie crooned, “flattery will get you <em>everywhere. </em>Keep it comin’ Mikey.”</p><p>Mike laughed again, a deep and melodic sound, and then his expression grew shrewd. “I should probably save some for Eddie to give to you later though.” At Richie’s look of shock Mike gave him a couple of congratulatory claps on his shoulder. “I’m proud of you, man. When I told Eddie that I thought it was a good idea to ask you to the fair I wasn’t sure he was going to do it. And then even if he did, I didn’t think you’d agree-”</p><p>“-What the <em>actual fuck!</em>” Richie threw his hands in the air. “Either one of you losers has figured out how to get cell service in this town or you’ve all got fucking cans on a string hidden somewhere.” His voice cracked at intervals again and his wolf ears flattened to his head in his distress.</p><p>“Bill came to see me a little while ago,” Mike said gently, clearly surprised at Richie’s reaction. “Said you were acting strange and asked to see if I knew about it. When he said you were outside Eddie’s house… I just put two and two together and figured he’d asked you to go. I won’t tell anyone though, if you’re worried about that. I promise.”</p><p>“Yeah, you’d be the first!”</p><p>Mike looked at him sadly and the yellow flowers on his horns dulled and closed. “Richie…”</p><p>“Shit. Sorry. I shouldn’t take it out on you, I just… God, I’m so nervous and it feels like there’s so much added pressure with all of you knowing I’m going on a date-”</p><p>“So it <em>is</em> a date?” Mike burst out, as all the flowers on his horns opened and glowed at once.</p><p>“<em>Shit,</em>” Richie hissed. “Wait, did Eddie say it was?”</p><p>Mike shook his head. “Not in those words. Just that he wanted to invite you to go with him to the fair to show him around, but he was nervous you’d say no.”</p><p>“What? Why the fuck would he think I’d say no?”</p><p>“Didn’t say, and I didn’t want to pry. I just said if he wanted to ask you and you didn’t want to go, then you just wouldn’t go, and nothing would change. I told him it was a good idea to do something that he wants to for a change. Guess he took my advice.”</p><p>“Yeah, but now I’ve agreed to show him around a fair I’ve never even been to! On a full moon!” Richie scrubbed both hands through his messy hair. “Fuck. I’m such an idiot.”</p><p>More yelling and clanging came from the preparations behind Mike, but he didn’t even flinch, and he didn’t turn around. He locked eyes with Richie, while the sun reflected strongly off his shiny horns and vest – lending an almost ethereal strength to his words. “No, you’re not. I’ve seen the way you look at him, and I can’t speak for Eddie, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you too.”</p><p>Richie felt his heartbeat pick up and colour crept into his cheeks. “Y-Yeah?” he squeaked.</p><p>“Yes. There’s something between you both that runs deep, whether it’s romantic or not. I feel that there’s a special connection between you two.” Mike’s expression softened. “That’s why I’m so glad you’re going to tell him about being a werewolf.”</p><p>“Huh?” Richie felt like someone had plunged his brain into ice. It took him a moment before he could fully process what Mike had said, and then he shook his head wildly. “No. No no no. Fuck, no. You thought that’s what… No way.”</p><p>Mike pulled a face. “What do you mean?... There’s a full moon and the fair starts just after sunset… You’ve got to be planning to tell him – you can’t actually go.” He spoke quietly, like saying it softly would soften the blow of the words.</p><p>“Trust me. I’ve found a way… if it works.”</p><p>Mike’s wary expression grew. “Bill said you sounded like you’d been up to something. I hoped it was just because you were nervous about telling Eddie the truth. But what have you done now?”</p><p>Richie opened his eyes wide, flattened his ears and swished his tail. “When have I ever been ‘up to something’?”</p><p>Mike folded his arms and levelled him a look that Stan would be proud of.</p><p>“What the fuck’s the point of being part canine if these puppy-dog-eyes don’t work on anyone?” Richie sighed. “Okay, fine. So, I uh- I might have asked Ben for a bit of a favor? But before you say anything, you saw what he could do for Stan! I just thought he could rustle up something similar for me. Except less of the walking in sunshine and more of the not sprouting fur and walking on four legs.”</p><p>Richie expected an immediate lecture on how irresponsible it was to mess with his powers like that and for dragging Ben into his scheme too, but Mike only regarded him with such a guarded expression that he had no idea what he was thinking. It was almost unbearable. Richie’s fingers tapped rapidly against his thigh.</p><p>Mike finally hummed thoughtfully. “You think it’ll work? Is it even possible?”</p><p>“Honestly?” Richie shrugged and let out a relieved breath at the break of tension. “I’ve got no idea. But Ben seemed pretty confident. He didn’t like the idea at first, but I think he was enjoying the challenge by the time I left…”</p><p>“So, you take Ben’s potion, it stops you transforming, and you go to the fair?”</p><p>“That’s the plan!”</p><p>“To go on a date with Eddie?”</p><p>“Breaking it down like that makes it sound kinda dumb, but yeah. I don’t want to transform into a wolf so I can spend one night at the fair I’ve always wanted to go to with someone I’ve always wanted to go to it with.” Richie spoke with more emotion than he expected. He took in another deep breath, letting the scent of the forest nearby ground him. (God, if he started crying in front of Mike he’d probably just die on the spot). “And I’m pretty sure I saw a ‘no dogs allowed’ sign outside the fair last month, so it’s this or nothing…”</p><p>“I’m not criticising,” Mike clarified quickly, “I’m just trying to wrap my head around this.” He looked up at the sky and sighed. “You’re not going to like this, but I still think you should tell him.”</p><p>“Mikey, you know I love you,” Richie shot back in a strained voice, “but you do remember that little inconvenience of there being a punishment for finding out about all this, right?” Richie mimed a finger cutting across his throat. “For him and for anyone involved. So that would include me, and Ben, probably Bill, and now you.”</p><p>“So, he keeps it a secret,” Mike replied easily.</p><p>“Oh yeah, so he just casually accepts that I’m a <em>werewolf</em> and all his other friends are creatures he’s used to seeing in the fucking movies, and he keeps it a big secret and we all just carry on like before?” He hadn’t meant for a bitter edge to sharpen his words so much, but he was voicing a pain and worry that had lodged itself into his chest for so long. “And you know once he finds out about us, the spell over the town won’t work on him either. He’d see everyone for what they really are. What if he’s… not ready for that?”</p><p>Richie felt the heat drain out of him and realised he’d been pacing, his tail swishing agitatedly behind him with every step.</p><p>That felt an awful lot like making the decision for him – not letting Eddie have a say in whether he’d want to stick with the illusion or whether he’d want to see the truth about Derry and the monsters that lived in it. It was bad enough knowing that the town you lived in was full of the shittiest kinds of bullies and creeps, but it was another to know that they could tear your throat out with their teeth or claws if they wanted to. The laws in Derry for murder were flimsy at best. The only rule that was strictly held was the secret. Because humans could leave and take the secret with them…</p><p>“Look, I know that’s a scary thought,” Mike continued, “and yeah, I think Eddie will need time to adjust, but do you really think anyone is better living a comfortable lie than living with a harder truth?”</p><p><em>“Yes!”</em> Richie’s voice cracked on the single word. “Comfortable lies are always better!”</p><p>“Richie…”</p><p>“Ugh,” Richie groaned and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. “Don’t say my name like that. You’ve got that ‘I’m not angry, just disappointed’ tone.”</p><p>“Well, I am. I know you’re scared, man, but I think you just don’t want to tell him for you, not him. If you respected him, you’d tell him the truth.” His expression softened. “I’m sorry, I know this is hard to hear… But I think he needs to know.”</p><p>“Sometimes lying is just- lying is easier, okay?” Richie burst out. “Then everyone is happy.”</p><p>Mike looked so sad that Richie struggled to hold it together. They both knew he was kidding himself.</p><p>“I know it’s probably easy for me to say these things when I’ve never been in a situation like this…” Mike said gently. “Heck, maybe in your shoes I’d have done exactly the same thing. But I do know that these kinds of things never stay a secret forever. I think it would be better if you got a chance to explain, don’t you?”</p><p>“But what if he…” <em>Hates me, can’t look at me, can’t touch me…</em></p><p>“You know Eddie better than anyone. How do you really feel he’ll react to being told the truth?”</p><p>Richie toed the dirt beneath his scruffy sneakers. He thought of all the lies Eddie’s mom had told and how much he hated it. He thought of Eddie accidentally giving him a nickname and throwing his teddy bear slipper at him to get his attention, and of all the times they would wait outside of each other’s classroom on campus, just so they could have a bit more time to hang out between classes. He thought of that glint in Eddie’s eyes when Richie dared him to do something stupid. He’d always do it. Even if he bitched about it the whole time. He really was a lot braver than anyone gave him credit for… And he didn’t deserve to be lied to by his mother and his best friend and everyone in the town he lived in all at once.</p><p>“I want to tell him,” Richie whispered suddenly, surprising himself, “but I just… I can’t… not yet. Not tonight.”</p><p>Mike reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Okay. That’s okay.”</p><p>Richie clenched his palms almost painfully tightly by his sides, fighting with his warring emotions.</p><p>“This isn’t what I imagined I’d be saying to you before you first date,” Mike continued, “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Excuse you- First date?” Richie squeaked. He adjusted his glasses and gestured to himself. “I’ll have you know that all of this is <em>irresistible</em>. I have been on plenty of dates, Michael. Plenty. Who wouldn’t want to go on a date and come away with wolf hair all over their clothes?”</p><p>Mike chuckled and Richie found some comfort in leaning back into his sense of humour and making people laugh. But he still felt just as bad as when he’d first left Eddie’s. If anything, he had even more on his mind now.</p><p>He’d have probably coped better with a chewing out from Bill or Stan than undergoing Mike’s soul searching.</p><p>Another clang rang out from the construction of the fair and someone called loudly for Mike. He turned and waved. “Sorry, I’ll be there in a minute!” he yelled.</p><p>“No, you should go, it looks like they need you,” Richie said. “They need their leader to hold them all together.”</p><p>Mike smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Are you going to be okay?”</p><p>“I’ll be fine,” Richie replied, with far more certainty than he felt. “Scout’s honour.”</p><p>“Look, I’m- I’m just worried about the potion. I’m not sure you should be messing with the natural order like this…” Mike sighed. “But I don’t think there’s anything anyone can say that will change your mind, is there?”</p><p>“Nope.”</p><p>Someone yelled Mike’s name again, but he waved them away. “But if you want me to come with you to Ben’s just say the word and I’ll hand over this vest right now and we can go together.”</p><p>Richie felt a lump form in his throat as tears prickled into his eyes. Sometimes he wondered how he’d got so lucky to have friends that cared about him so much. He managed to hold himself together long enough to shake his head, and he flicked one of Mike’s curved horns. It made a satisfying clink. “Get back to setting up that fair, man! I’m serious.”</p><p>Mike continued to look at him with concern, but Richie grinned and turned away with a little wave.</p><p>“Richie!” Mike called after him.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“See you later.”</p><p>“I’ll be the one standing on two legs!”</p><p>Richie heard Mike’s laughter as he went, but he’d only taken a few more steps before he heard a thin, wobbly excuse for a howl ring out from somewhere behind him. His wolf ears swivelled automatically at the sound, while Richie made sure not to turn around and give those assholes the satisfaction of seeing him react. It was joined by a chorus of other reedy howls and raucous laughter and Richie had to hastily shove down the instinctual impulse to join in – even if he knew the howl wasn’t real. He took a deep breath and kept walking.</p><p>He’d had enough practice to ignore this kind of shit by now.</p><p>The laughter and howling ended abruptly, and Richie chanced a glance at them, in time to see a group of the non-human workers scramble back to work at Mike’s approach – his horns glowing a vivid red.</p><p>Richie huffed out a breath in appreciation as he continued to leave, but he got to the edge of the field and instead of stepping onto the road, he stopped dead. His tail lashed behind him and he span on his heels. He was already so far away from the fair that he couldn’t see much other than the indistinct grey blobs of the rides and machinery in the distance and the spots of moving florescent yellow, but he knew they’d all hear him.</p><p>Richie inhaled as much air as he could, cupped both hands around his mouth, and let out a howl that came from somewhere deep within his chest and soul. One long, long haunting note rose into the air and climbed in intensity and volume until it was all he could hear and feel thrumming through his entire body. He held it as long as he could and trembled with the effort by the time he finally ran out of breath. Even as it faded Richie could still hear his own howl ringing in his ears.</p><p>He knew he was the only one who would be able to interpret the meaning of <em>‘fuck you’</em>  that he’d threaded into the note, but he felt like the intention was pretty clear, and that made him feel better. He got some satisfaction from the flocks of birds that took to the skies from the surrounding forest, squawking an indignant chorus as they fled the sound. Richie heaved air into his burning lungs and smiled.</p><p>Fuck it, he was going back to Ben’s.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The one with the waggly tail</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's time to go back for that potion... Richie only hopes that Ben's been successful...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>okay I lied I'm sorry it's not quite time for the fair yet. It messed up the pacing to have it with this chapter - so look forward to that next time *jazz hands*</p>
<p>I'm also still working without a beta reader, so please let me know what you think about the pacing, the lore, the creatures etc etc. Or if you find an error! Let me knoowww ! much love</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Richie skirted the edges of town on his way back to Ben’s. He knew his howl had been powerful enough to have rang out through the whole of Derry, and he wasn’t in the right kind of headspace to deal with the whispers and barking from the townsfolk he passed on top of everything else.</p>
<p><em>Classic Richie Tozier,</em> he thought bitterly as he trudged through fields of tall grasses, <em>should learn to keep his mouth shut.</em></p>
<p>But the walk was longer than he anticipated, and he started to wish he’d gone through town after all.</p>
<p>He was getting pretty fucking sick of his brain refusing to do much else than loop over different, but all equally as terrible, scenarios of Eddie telling him over and over that he never wanted to see him again.</p>
<p>Having an overactive imagination was great for coming up with comedy sets, but not so great for trying not to dwell on thoughts of how your best friend would react to finding out you’re a werewolf. Sometimes, in his self-destructive scenarios, it was the lying that hurt Eddie the most, sometimes it was the turning into a wolf that disgusted him too much to even look at him, and sometimes it was just the ears and tail that freaked him out and had him calling him a monster.</p>
<p>Richie’s heart broke in every scenario.</p>
<p>Eddie was the kind of person who glared at students on campus who whispered as they went by, even though he had no idea what they were whispering about, and someone who Richie had had to physically hold back a few times from going to leap on Bowers when he would shove his shoulder into them if they passed him in town. He was the sort of person who had a meltdown over having to perform a presentation to his class, because he worried about getting too worked up by speaking in front of that many people and having an asthma attack in front of them all. But then he was always celebrating with Richie about it going well afterwards, because he wasn’t someone who was stopped by his fears. Maybe sometimes he was held up by them, a little like a deer in the headlights, but he would power through and he wouldn’t let the small stumbles stop him. Richie loved to see those moments when his brown eyes would blaze, and he’d do something stupid even though he was scared, usually just because Richie had dared him to, or because <em>he</em> was doing something stupid, and he would join in even though he’d bitch and moan about it the whole time.</p>
<p>Richie had witnessed his biggest act of bravery so far – lying to his mother, the one person who seemed to have a chokehold over Eddie’s whole life. He’d started pushing the boundaries of his curfew recently, but that was the first time Richie had seen him tell such an elaborate lie and plan to fucking <em>sneak out</em>. It was like seeing someone take the first step towards freedom, even if it was in a small secret way. And if that wasn’t its own kind of bravery, Richie didn’t know what was.</p>
<p>But as brave as Eddie was, he was also the one that gagged when Richie ate with his mouth open on purpose, carried two bottles of hand sanitiser, plasters of various sizes, pain killers, an inhaler, and disinfectant wipes in his fanny pack (that he always carried on him when he left the house), and he could recite a fully memorised description of basically any kind of disease or bacteria whenever prompted.</p>
<p>Eddie had to be held back from leaping on the biggest psycho in town, but he’d seen him hang his head in shame and mutter ‘sorry, ma’ when his mother demanded to know why he was home fifteen minutes later than his curfew. (It hadn’t helped that Richie always walked him home when he was late, for the moral support, because that was probably when his mother had decided that he was a bad influence.)</p>
<p>Eddie Kaspbrak made no sense and Richie loved him all the same.</p>
<p>Richie nearly stumbled with the force of that revelation on his poor overworked nerves, but he smiled privately and carried on, crunching through dry grass, and swatting away disturbed insects.</p>
<p>He only stopped when he realised that he had made it to the ‘Kissing Bridge’. He looked around nervously, knowing this was a favourite spot of couples looking to carve their initials into the old wood bordering the bridge. Romance was pretty dead for the older creatures in town, but he knew a lot of college students would brag about carving their names on the fence and then making out on the bridge to like, seal in the magic or some shit. He didn’t really believe there was any real enchantment on the fence, but the number of names carved into it proved that it was a popular local legend. Oddly, for Derry, it was something harmless and sweet. Richie wondered how it would feel to go there with someone you loved, believing in the dumb magic of the Kissing Bridge…</p>
<p>His fingers itched by his side.</p>
<p>He glanced around again, but there was nobody there but him, so he scanned the old wood for a small gap and dove down to his knees, not caring about the scuff of gravel on his jeans. His dorm room keys were in his pocket. A weird buzzing started in Richie’s ears that he tried to ignore as he shakily carved out <em>R + E </em>with his key, cursing when it slipped out of his sweaty hands a few times.</p>
<p>
  <em>What was he doing? </em>
</p>
<p>His heart thumped furiously in his chest, but as he stood back and admired the tiny carving Richie felt a glow of something warm too. His feelings were as real as the grooves he’d made into the wood. No matter what happened or how Eddie felt about him, his truth was the tiny wobbly <em>R + E </em>he’d carved onto the fucking Kissing Bridge.</p>
<p>Richie walked hastily away and let out a deep sigh as he left the bridge behind.</p>
<p>Somehow that had made him feel both better and worse.</p>
<p>Eventually the ground sloped downwards, and Richie came to the edge of a creek. He sloshed straight ahead through the water, since his sneakers were beaten up and worn already, so what was a bit of water going to do? But when he got to the middle of the creek he paused. Beside him was a yawning shadowed hole where the water was running steadily out from, and Richie realised it was the end of a huge sewer pipe. A freezing, dank wind blew from inside like an animal letting out a long breath. It licked the skin on Richie’s arms, and slid over him like cold, slippery fingers. The fur along his tail spiked up at the gross sensation and it nearly dragged a growl from his throat.</p>
<p>He’d never been this way to get to Ben’s before, and he certainly wouldn’t again.</p>
<p>Richie shook himself all over like a dog shaking off water, and he pushed on.</p>
<p>The sun was much lower in the sky, and his shoes had fully dried out, by the time he made it to Ben’s.</p>
<p>The little cottage was so inconspicuous from the outside – nobody would ever know how deep down it went and that it was filled with so many books about magic and monsters.</p>
<p>Richie tried to stop feeling so nervous as he approached, but the butterflies that had been present in his stomach all day just flapped harder and he swallowed thickly to try and quell his growing nausea at the impending full moon.</p>
<p>He hadn’t even noticed anyone was sat on the roof until he heard a sultry voice ring out, “Hey Puppy, why so sad? You lost? Need some help finding your way home?”</p>
<p>“Why, honey-pie, are you offering?” Richie shot back playfully, shielding his eyes from the low sun’s glare as he grinned up at Beverly, sitting with her legs dangling over the edge of Ben’s roof. Even with his eyes shielded, he could only make out her silhouette.</p>
<p>“Why don’t you come up here, Puppy, and I’ll point you in the right direction?”</p>
<p>“Well now, that’s an offer I can’t refuse,” Richie said in the same voice, then added an enthusiastic, “I’ll be with you lickety-split.”</p>
<p>Bev laughed; a sound that trilled out musically from the roof before it ended in a snort. “Actually, I changed my mind! Anyone that says lickety-split can stay down there.”</p>
<p>“Too late!” he shouted. “I’m coming up!” Richie was about to try and consider how he was going to climb up his second house of the day when the silhouette of Bev waved at him and pointed across the roof.</p>
<p>“There’s a ladder, you doofus. Please don’t break your neck trying to scale the house – Eddie would kill me.”</p>
<p>Richie let out a grateful breath and made his way to the other side of the building, where a wooden ladder had been attached to the wall that ran all the way from the ground to the roof. He didn’t have to question why Ben had built a ladder onto the side of his house – they all knew Bev liked to sit in high places, so if he wanted to join her up there, he’d need a reliable way of getting up and down.</p>
<p>Cute.</p>
<p>It was so much easier to climb up Ben’s house than it was Eddie’s – each rung of the ladder felt sturdy as he climbed, and the wood was polished smooth under his palms. He needed Ben to build one of these onto the side of Eddie’s house. They could disguise it as an ivy trellis or something. His mom would never know.</p>
<p>Richie finally heaved himself up onto the roof and came face to face with a smiling Beverly Marsh. The evening sunlight glinted off the flame red feathers of the short wings on her arms and caught on the copper-coloured speckles that dotted them, like sparks crackling out from a fire. More feathers were threaded through her red hair that rustled as she moved and tiny feathers were scattered just below her eyes amongst her freckles, that sparkled in the dying light. He’d told her once that he thought she had phoenix blood in her and she’d scoffed. But it was hard to believe she wasn’t one sometimes, whether she saw it or not.</p>
<p>Harpies were almost as rare as werewolves, so Richie had felt a certain kind of kinship to Bev immediately, and then her sense of humour had completely won him over.</p>
<p>Bev offered a clawed hand to him and he gratefully accepted the help to his feet. Despite the scales, like the ones on a bird’s legs, her hands were softer than they appeared, and Richie remembered being surprised the first time he’d held her hand. The talons she had for feet, just like her hands, clicked as the claws hit the stone roof when she stepped back. Her scales faded into regular human skin just below her knees and just after her wrists. She appraised him for a moment and then gestured a winged arm at him. “You look like shit, are you okay?”</p>
<p>Richie sighed. “I’m so glad we’re comfortable enough in our friendship for you to be honest with me in this beautiful way.”</p>
<p>Bev’s lips pulled into a wicked grin. “You know I’ll always tell you how it is, Tozier.”</p>
<p>“Thanks. I’m just gonna go jump off here to find someone who really loves me.”</p>
<p>“Hey, come here, I’m sorry,” Bev cooed, opening her winged arms wide. “Really, are you okay?”</p>
<p>Richie allowed himself to be pulled into her feathery embrace and let out a sigh. “No,” he muttered into her soft hair, then rested his chin on the top of her head. Bev was the shortest in their group of friends, though only a little shorter than Eddie, but she made up for the lack of height in her hugs with the enthusiasm of them. Her arms encircled his waist, and she leaned her head into his chest – her feathery hair tickled his chin.</p>
<p>Richie smiled and gave her a squeeze while his tail wagged gently behind him. “Thanks Bev,” he sighed.</p>
<p>She let go and pulled back enough to peer up at him. “You really do look pale though… Is it wolf stuff?”</p>
<p>Richie pulled his glasses up and rubbed at his eyes. “Mostly.”</p>
<p>Bev placed her clawed hand carefully to Richie’s forehead, sweeping under the curls of his fringe. He really needed to get his hair cut soon. “You do feel a little hot.”</p>
<p>Richie smirked and opened his mouth, but her claws came down and pressed onto his lips before he could say anything.</p>
<p>“That was too easy even for you.”</p>
<p>He let out an amused huff. “Damn. You know me too well, Marsh.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I know you’ll take a shot at any low hanging fruit you can, Trashmouth.” Bev took a step back and shook her head as if she were disappointed in him, but her lips were pulled into her trademark lopsided smile. “I can already see you wanting to make a joke out of that too,” she accused, with a jab of a claw to his chest.</p>
<p>“Would I? You have such low expectations from my comedy! I’ll have you know; I am a true connoisseur of classy mom-jokes and only the highest of high-brow material. Just ask Eddie!”</p>
<p>“I’d pay to see Eddie’s reaction to a question about what your comedy is like.”</p>
<p>Richie smiled fondly, imagining Eddie’s sharp intake of breath and hands swishing through the air while he absolutely roasted the shit out of Richie’s sense of humour. But he could complain all he wanted – he was the person who laughed the hardest whenever Richie landed a good joke. </p>
<p>After a pause, the concern returned to Bev’s expression and she tilted her head like a bird. “Y’know, I’ve never seen you this close to the full moon before.”</p>
<p>Richie let his good humour fade as he sighed again. “No.” He looked across at the sunset and felt the fur along his tail prickle. The light was fading fast and setting the sky ablaze with a red that caught on all of Bev’s feathers and made her look as if she were on fire. It was beautiful, but the dread that gnawed his stomach and added to his nausea only grew with every reminder that time was running out. He needed to see if Ben had finished the potion.</p>
<p>“I’m usually deep into the forest on the other side of town by now,” Richie continued sadly. “Ready to alternate between throwing up and shivering and getting ready to strip out of my clothes so I don’t get stuck in them when I transform. It’s a great time.”</p>
<p>Bev whistled. “Sounds rough,” she said softly. She reached across and held his hands between her talons. “Please tell me there’s a story behind you knowing you can get stuck in your clothes if you don’t take them off.”</p>
<p>Richie laughed so suddenly it came out as a bark. “Duh!”</p>
<p>“But you’re not going to tell me?”</p>
<p>“I could tell you, but then I’d have to throw myself off the roof.”</p>
<p>Bev looked as if she was considering it.</p>
<p>“Fuck off Marsh!” Richie let go of her talons and swatted at them as she giggled.</p>
<p>“The moon being close to rising – is that why you’re so hot-” she rolled her eyes “-have such a high temperature?”</p>
<p>“Yep. It’s basically my body going, what the <em>fuck</em>, we’re doing <em>this</em> <em>again?” </em></p>
<p>Bev flapped her arms towards him, and all the feathers stirred up a delightful breeze that Richie closed his eyes and leaned into – feeling a bit like a dog leaning out of a car window. It felt good on his clammy forehead.</p>
<p>“Better?”</p>
<p>He nodded.</p>
<p>“That’s good,” Bev said, “but, why aren’t you in the forest now?”</p>
<p>“Hm?” Richie tried to bring his thought process back from <em>feels nice don’t stop.</em></p>
<p>“If you’re this close to the full moon, what are you doing here?”</p>
<p>He opened his eyes and his ears perked up high in his head in his surprise. “Wait… you don’t know about later?”</p>
<p>“Know what?”</p>
<p>“Holy shit, I just assumed all of you losers knew by this point!”</p>
<p>“Oh,” she began innocently, “you mean <em>later </em>– your date with Eddie at the fair and the potion Ben is making for you to be able to go?”</p>
<p>Richie placed his head in his hands. “What the <em>actual fuck!</em> I’m never telling you little shits anything ever again!”</p>
<p>“Oh, Rich, I’m sorry, I really am.” Bev snorted and clapped her talons over her mouth. “I couldn’t resist!”</p>
<p>“Who told you?” Richie groaned. “Was it Bill?”</p>
<p>“Nah, it was Ben.”</p>
<p>“Ben?!”</p>
<p>“Well, he didn’t actually mean to tell me – I knocked on the door and he opened it all sweaty and nervous and said that he was sorry, but he couldn’t see any visitors right now. Which is very… un-Ben. I got worried and I asked if he was okay, but he just said he was working on a delicate potion,” Bev explained. “Which I thought was fair enough because I know how he gets when he’s making potions. But when I asked him what the potion was, he freaked out and said that it definitely wasn’t for Richie.”</p>
<p>“Oh Jesus.”</p>
<p>Bev smiled fondly. “I asked him why he would be making you a potion on the night of the full moon, and he got even more flustered and said that the anti-full moon potion wasn’t even for you at all. By that point I think he knew what he’d done, so I told him I wasn’t leaving until he told me what was going on.” She threw him an apologetic look. “Sorry, Rich.”</p>
<p>“It’s fine,” he said with an air of defeat. “Everyone else knows so why not.”</p>
<p>“He said he’d come fetch me when it was ready, and I was going to fly out to find you if you hadn’t already come back. But here you are.”</p>
<p>“Here I am,” Richie echoed. He brightened for a moment. “Oh man, I’d have loved to see you fly down to get me. Coming down from the sky like a beautiful scaly angel.”</p>
<p>Bev flipped him off. “Next time I’ll just tell him to use a dog whistle.”</p>
<p>Richie grinned, though it lacked his usual energy, and it faded as he looked up at the bleeding sky again. “I know deep down that it’s not really a problem that you all know… about me and Eddie I mean.” Richie thought of how supportive all his friends had been. “But the potion I could have lived with staying a secret. Makes me feel a bit pathetic.”</p>
<p>“Pathetic? No. Too in love to make rational decisions? Yes.”</p>
<p>“That makes it sound worse.” Richie groaned and his ears flattened down. “I just… want to go on a date with my best friend… Is that weird? I feel like that should be weird.”</p>
<p>“There’s nothing wrong about falling for your best friend, Rich,” Bev huffed good-naturedly. “I get it. It’s scary. But at least you know that if it doesn’t work out you can just go back to being friends, because that’s how you were before anyway.”</p>
<p>For a moment Richie was taken back to a similar conversation he’d had with Ben. The whole group had already guessed about Ben’s crush on Bev, because he wasn’t exactly very subtle about it, but could she also…</p>
<p>“Bev, do you-”</p>
<p>“I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she interrupted, “or we can, but then I’ll have to push you off the roof.” She echoed his words from earlier and Richie huffed in amusement.</p>
<p>“Oh, okay, I see how it is! We all have an opinion on Richie’s love life, but does Richie get to know about anyone else’s? Stan’s probably got a secret girlfriend or something. Turns out Mikey is secretly married to a tree. But I plan one date – which might not even be a date for Eddie – and you all know about it!”</p>
<p>Bev looked entirely unapologetic. “We both know you would have told me about later anyway. You can’t keep a secret to save your life.”</p>
<p>“Neither can all of you apparently!”</p>
<p><em>“Richie,”</em> she sang, “I love you, but don’t be such a big baby about this, you’d have told us all eventually.”</p>
<p>“Okay, maybe,” Richie conceded. “Probably. Alright, yeah, I’d have definitely blurted out my big dumb crush on my highly strung human best friend to you eventually. But I just… I don’t know what to do about it. And now there’s so much added pressure because you all know, and he doesn’t. Mike thinks I should tell him about me. The whole werewolf thing…”</p>
<p>“Maybe you should! Eddie is definitely someone who can keep a secret.”</p>
<p>“Not you too. I need some backup on this. I can’t tell him something he could get killed for, Bev. And I don’t want him to look at me like I’m a…”</p>
<p>
  <em>Monster.</em>
</p>
<p>“Well either way,” Bev said more gently, giving him a supportive smile, “like I said, you can always go back to being friends if it doesn’t work out.”</p>
<p>“But I… I don’t want it to not work out Bev. I don’t know how I could hang around him and pretend that I don’t feel the way I feel. It’s hard enough already. I don’t think I could know what it’s like to date him and then go back. I’d go crazy.” Richie’s voice was low and raw with his honesty and he raked his hands through his curls. Damn, he sure was getting good at talking about his feelings now that he’d had to do it so many times in one day.</p>
<p>Bev’s arms suddenly wrapped strongly around his waist and pulled him into another hug. He held onto her smaller frame with a tight grip and tried not to cry again. At some point he knew he was going to break.</p>
<p>The low sun cast their combined shadow as a long line across Ben’s roof. Each passing minute brought Richie closer to the time it would set. His stomach still felt uneasy and fluttery, preparing itself for the change that it knew was coming, and his temperature was still high – so along with his achy muscles it felt like he’d got the flu. He knew he was running out of time because his skin was itchy with the impending covering of fur that awaited it, but he knew scratching at it didn’t soothe it, he would just be left with deep red scratches and no relief.</p>
<p>“Baby,” Bev sang again, much softer, with an added note of magic that threaded through the words that made Richie feel a little calmer, “baby, you’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>They clung onto each other and Richie sighed again in her hair. Then one of Bev’s hands migrated up from his waist. A claw had barely even touched the sensitive fur on one of his ears, but he jumped back like he’d been shocked and swatted at her talons. He gasped dramatically and put on a high-pitched voice that properly conveyed the exaggerated levels of disgust he was going for when he screeched, “Well I never! Here we are sharing a tender moment and you go and try to cop a feel of my poor ol’ ears while I’m feeling vulnerable! For shame Miss Beverly!”</p>
<p>Bev let him go and giggled, holding her hands up like she’d been caught. “What can I say? I can’t resist. I saw my opportunity and took it. I’ll scratch those things one day, I swear. But it’s your fault they’re so fluffy.” She smiled warmly. “But at least I got you to smile properly again.”</p>
<p>Richie shook his head like a dog and ruffled his hands over his ears. They were feeling twitchy because of the full moon anyway, but they were always sensitive, and he didn’t want anyone to touch them. But he thought of Eddie accidentally brushing one was a sense memory that made him blush, and as if she could read his thoughts Bev said slyly, “I bet you’d let Eddie touch them.”</p>
<p>But before Richie could process something to say there was a loud bang beneath them as the front door to Ben’s house flew open so fast it slammed against the wall.</p>
<p>“Bev!” Ben cried with excitement. “Bev! You’ve got to get Richie – I did it!”</p>
<p>“He’s right here!” Bev yelled back. She moved to the edge of the roof and pointed behind her, where Richie stood safely away from falling without the added security of wings. He leaned forward a little and waved.</p>
<p>“Oh!” Ben squeaked. “Well, that’s great news! Hi Richie! Oh yeah, you need to come down to the basement, the potion’s ready and there isn’t much time left!”</p>
<p>Richie heard Ben’s footsteps retreat inside with a patter.</p>
<p>He shared one hopeful look with Bev before he made to go to the ladder – but she reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him.</p>
<p>“Get on,” she said, pointing to her back with a clawed thumb, “it’ll be faster.”</p>
<p>“What the fuck, seriously?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but now you owe me a scratch of those fluffy ears, Tozier.”</p>
<p>“Dude, deal.”</p>
<p>Bev waved her arms in the air and the small layer of feathers hanging from them, that would never be able to lift anyone into actual flight, grew down rapidly into a pair of wings that almost touched the floor. She shook them out and they fluffed up into a shape that more closely resembled real bird wings – pointing past her hands to make a wingspan large enough to carry a person. (Plus one lanky werewolf if they were just gliding to the ground.)</p>
<p>Richie hopped onto her back (with an apology as she grunted at his weight), hooked his ankles around her waist, and held onto her shoulders as she shook out her feathery wings again and leapt from the roof. Richie whooped as they went; gliding down quickly but gently to the ground as air captured under her wings and slowed their descent.</p>
<p>As soon as Bev’s clawed feet touched the floor Richie hopped off her back and she shook her arms to make the feathers retreat again.</p>
<p>“That was awesome. We have got to do that off the ledge at the quarry sometime!”</p>
<p>“You know what I’ll want in return,” Bev countered with a wink, as the feathers returned to the length they were before.</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Richie conceded. “Does that uh- wing thing, hurt?”</p>
<p>“Nah. It’s like… You ever seen those window blinds that are on a roller? My arms are like that. The feathers can come down and then when I’m done, they just roll back up inside… I’ve got really thin hollow bones for flight, so there’s lots of room in there.”</p>
<p>“Oh, shit,” Richie laughed, knowing Eddie would be gagging by now.</p>
<p>They made their way inside.</p>
<p>Richie himself was in no place to comment on it being gross because he’d never actually seen his transformation, but he couldn’t imagine it was a pretty sight to see someone physically turn into a wolf. He’d heard – and felt – the snapping of bones often enough between his own screams to know that he would definitely be able to beat Bev’s arms on a scale of grossness.</p>
<p>They both walked quickly down the long corridor that made up the centre of Ben’s house, then descended into his basement, just as he had done earlier that day. The large gothic wooden door was already ajar.</p>
<p>When he pushed inside Richie expected to see a scene similar to last time – but he was unprepared for just how much messier it was; dozens of bunsen burners and glass beakers bubbling with various liquids were strewn across Ben’s desks, there were more notes than ever, and discarded petals and herbs were scattered over them. The two cauldrons were also bubbling loudly above their fires and letting off a sweet sickly scent that turned Richie’s already sensitive stomach.</p>
<p>Ben’s witch hat and cloak had been abandoned over a chair, leaving him in just his bright purple undershirt. His cheeks and pointed ears were brightly flushed when he turned excitedly to Richie as they entered, and it was clear to see that his fringe was spiky with sweat – pushed to one side like he’d been wiping there frequently with the back of his arm.</p>
<p>Ben held up a test tube proudly, a cork stopper in the top holding in the bright blue liquid, and his smile lit up his whole face as he held it out to Richie. “Here.”</p>
<p>“That’s it?” Richie asked before he could stop himself.</p>
<p>Bev tapped him on the nose like she was scolding a naughty puppy and Richie hastened to backtrack with a hurried, “No, I didn’t mean it like that!”, as Ben’s expression fell. “I just- I thought there’d be a whole cauldron of it or something, and then I could… y’know, use some every month…”</p>
<p>Ben pulled the potion bottle back and cradled it to his chest with a kind of reverential care. “Richie… I said I couldn’t do anything about your transformations permanently. I’m sorry. This is all I could make. Getting the ingredients to balance out was almost impossible.”</p>
<p>Richie really looked around at the chaos then, and took in just how hard Ben must have worked to make what he’d originally said wasn’t possible. There were pages and pages of notes, spilling over from the desk to the floor; some screwed up into balls, some with charred corners, some bound together with string – all in a language Richie couldn’t even read. There were also scattered bottles everywhere, all filled with murky brown liquids. Failed potions, he realised.</p>
<p>Richie knew he was sounding ungrateful about it. He’d just… deep down he’d secretly hoped this could be a kind of cure…</p>
<p>He pushed a smile to his face. “Thank you, Haystack, I really mean it. You did amazing! Proof that you are the king witch of potion making. Potion Master Ben!” he cheered.</p>
<p>Ben brightened immediately and a bright blush settled again into his round cheeks. “I don’t know about that… It took a lot of trial and error,” he murmured bashfully.</p>
<p>“I’m so proud of you for sticking with it though,” Bev said with a clap of her talons.</p>
<p>Ben’s blush deepened and he ducked his head down as he passed Richie the potion bottle again. “Th-Thanks, Bev.”</p>
<p>Richie pulled the cork stopper out with his teeth, spat it across the room, clenched his eyes shut, and tipped the glass bottle to his lips – swallowing it in a couple of gulps with his head tilted back like a shot. It slipped down his throat smoothly. He pulled the bottle away, wiped his lips with the back of his hand and coughed a little at the extremely cool minty taste that burned down into his chest. It had a kick to it.</p>
<p>When he looked back to Ben, he had such a horrified expression that Richie blinked owlishly in surprise. “What?”</p>
<p>“Did you- just… drink that whole thing in one go?”</p>
<p>“Uh- yeah- shit, was I not supposed to?”</p>
<p>Bev cackled and bent double with the force of her laughter. “Shit, Tozier.”</p>
<p>Ben paled as all the pink in his cheeks seemed to drain away at once. “I… um… I can’t believe you just did that. What if there were some special instructions to taking it? Oh… I can’t believe you just downed it without knowing what it does.”</p>
<p>Richie swallowed hard (damn that stuff was still burning) and casually asked, “But were there any special instructions?”</p>
<p>“Well, no, but…”</p>
<p>“Exactly! Down the hatch and it’s done!”</p>
<p>Ben wiped his forehead with the back of his hand again, mussing his fringe further into disarray. “Okay well, please never do that again. But how do you feel?”</p>
<p>Richie paused and held his breath. <em>How did he feel?</em></p>
<p>“I’m not sure… I don’t feel sick anymore. I don’t feel…” Richie turned his hands over and stared at them in wonder. “I don’t feel itchy.”</p>
<p>Ben snatched up a thick notebook from nearby and scribbled into it with a quill, scratching it rapidly across the page. “Anything else?”</p>
<p>“Actually… yeah, my ears feel a little… numb.” Richie reached up and touched one, but although he could feel the fur beneath his fingertips, he felt nothing from the ear itself. <em>“Shit,”</em> he hissed, “my ears <em>are</em> numb.” He reached around and grabbed at his fluffy tail, feeling the dense fur and the soft undercoat as he sunk his fingers in. “Can’t feel anything in my tail either.”</p>
<p>Ben nodded as he wrote and then looked up apologetically. “Sorry. I thought that might happen. I should have warned you.”</p>
<p>“No, don’t take responsibility for that,” Bev put in quickly, “Richie should have let you tell him the possible side effects before he downed the potion.”</p>
<p>“Okay, okay, maybe drink first, ask questions later wasn’t one of my finest ideas,” Richie groaned.</p>
<p>“How about in yourself?” Ben continued kindly. “You said you don’t feel nauseous anymore, right? But do you feel any <em>different?</em>”</p>
<p>“Not really. Should I?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know… this is a real first for me. Anything you can tell me would be really helpful. Otherwise… I can’t say for sure if it’ll even work.” Ben dipped his head down into his book, nearly pressing his button nose into the pages. “We actually won’t have any way of knowing if the potion will stop your full transformation until the moon rises,” he admitted.</p>
<p>“Woah, hold up. I told Eddie I’d meet him at seven. That’s before the moon’s come up!”</p>
<p>Bev sighed. “What the fuck, Richie, why’d you tell him a time before the moon rises?”</p>
<p>“I panicked okay! I was having a big dumb crush crisis and I panicked!”</p>
<p>“Well, I know you’re not going to like this, but I really think you should stay here until the moon rises,” Ben said softly. “If it works then I’m sure Eddie will understand when you get there – we can come up with a good excuse for why you’re late.”</p>
<p>Richie started shaking his head even before Ben had finished talking. “I can’t. Imagine Eds standing there thinking I’ve stood him up or some shit.” Richie spoke with a casual air that didn’t match the stab of hurt that thought produced.</p>
<p>If the potion didn’t work and he never went at all he’d have to send Bev or Ben to go and tell Eddie that he wasn’t coming, but what excuse could he possibly come up with that would make it okay to blow him off like that?</p>
<p>He remembered Mike saying that Eddie had been worried about asking him in the first place because he thought he’d say no – standing him up like that would kill Richie.</p>
<p>He’d rather take the gamble.</p>
<p>“Fuck that,” Richie said with a snort. “I’m going. Right now, these things are totally numb-” he had to concentrate hard to make his ears wiggle and his tail flick, not able to feel the movement in the limbs themselves “-so I know that if the feeling in them comes back online that’s a bad sign, and I’ll make my escape before I transform.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know Richie, it still seems a bit risky…”</p>
<p>“Dude, there’s a forest literally right next to the fair. I’ll just dive in. Easy.”</p>
<p>“‘Easy’, he says,” Bev repeated with a lopsided smile.</p>
<p>“Well either way, I took it, I’m going, I’ve got just enough time to race over – I believe in your work Ben,” Richie added enthusiastically, with both thumbs up.</p>
<p>“You’re not even going to change your outfit?” Bev still had a slightly amused air to her, that was visible in the way her feathers were fluffed up playfully, like this was all exactly as she imagined the lead up to any date involving Richie to go.</p>
<p>Richie glanced at his wrist again. (He still wasn’t wearing a watch.) “No time.” He shook his head like a wet dog to make his curls bounce and pulled his glasses off to wipe them with the corner of his yellow dog-bone print shirt. “There we go.”</p>
<p>Bev rolled her eyes. “Ben, do you have a tie?”</p>
<p>Ben jumped as his attention snapped back to them both and Richie realised that he’d been deep in thought. “W-What? A tie? Sure, I do.”</p>
<p>“Can Richie borrow it for tonight?”</p>
<p>“Y-Yeah, of course!” Ben raced out of the room.</p>
<p>Bev had a gentle look on her face as she smiled at the doorway that Ben stumbled out through in his haste to get Richie a tie for his date.</p>
<p>“Hey, maybe you two should come to the fair too. We can double date.” Richie let his eyebrows dance up and down and he clicked his tongue.</p>
<p>Bev scoffed but her feathers fluffed up even more. “You can try to change the subject, but tonight’s all about you, baby.”</p>
<p>Richie laughed. “We can just add this to the pile of times that Richie-Tozier-has-fucked-up-but-his-friends-are-there-to-save-him.”</p>
<p>“And we always will be,” Bev promised. “And just so you know, I would do the same thing if I were you.”</p>
<p>“Really?”</p>
<p>“If I fell in love with a human?” Bev held out her talons and flexed them, the scaly skin and her large claws shining in the light from the fire beneath the cauldrons. “I wouldn’t be able to touch them, you know. The enchantment would show me as a human, but it can’t trick sensations. I wouldn’t even be able to hold their hand.” She flicked her pale eyes towards the door to the basement. “I’m lucky,” she said softly, “so if there’s a way that you get to experience that? Then you should do it. I really hope you have an amazing time, whether it’s the first date of many or just hanging out with your best friend, okay?”</p>
<p>Richie felt the backs of his eyes sting and tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. “<em>Oh my god</em> babe, you’re gonna make me <em>cry</em> and all my mascara will <em>run</em>, and I’ll look like some kind of tragic <em>clown</em>,” he whined in an extremely high pitch as he fanned his eyes.</p>
<p>Bev cackled and ruffled a talon in his hair.</p>
<p>“Hey, I just shook that out.”</p>
<p>“Well now you have the tousled look. Eddie will want to run his hands straight through it, trust me.”</p>
<p>Richie choked and felt heat crawl up the back of his neck.</p>
<p>“I’m back!” Ben exclaimed as he burst back through the doorway.</p>
<p><em>Bless Ben and his perfect timing</em>, Richie thought with affection.</p>
<p>Ben offered out a white tie, that Richie took gratefully and tied around his neck over his black undershirt, and then he held up a leather jacket that he’d had slung over his arm. “My dad sent me this a few years ago for my birthday, but it’s- uh- not really my style, so I’ve never worn it. I mean, I know it’ll be a bit big, but…”</p>
<p>Bev huffed and snagged it from Ben before Richie could. “Good thing I’m here,” she said with a grin. She managed to find an empty corner of one of Ben’s desks and laid the jacket out flat, then plucked a small feather from her cheek with a little wince. Richie watched in fascination as she used a claw to rip down the back of the leather, licked the tip of the feather, and looked up at Ben expectantly. “I need some string.”</p>
<p>Ben jumped into action immediately, racing around to a pile of objects underneath one of the desks, and pulled out the same red string that Richie recognised from the walls. “How about this?”</p>
<p>“Perfect.”</p>
<p>With a care that Richie didn’t realise Bev’s claws were capable of, she pushed the tip of the feather through the string and began to sew. The feather glided effortlessly through the leather – obviously sharper than even a needle. She went fast but Richie was still conscious of the time. He tried not to let his agitation show, but his leg began to bounce of its own accord and Bev looked up at him sharply – her pale eyes shot a glare at him that stilled his leg immediately.</p>
<p>Finally, she pulled the thread tightly and broke it off with her teeth, creating a satisfying snap. She held the jacket up with satisfaction and Richie gasped. The seam she’d made was almost invisible.</p>
<p>“Holy shit, Bev. I knew you liked to sew, but this is on another level.”</p>
<p>Bev almost blushed as she handed it over. “It’s just something I really enjoy. Harpy feathers are perfect travelling sewing needles.”</p>
<p>Richie put it on and smiled. The arms were still a little long, but somehow the torso fit perfectly. “How does it fit this well? What kind of magic is this?”</p>
<p>“Just the magic of a good seamstress’s eye,” Bev giggled. She appraised him up and down and he did a little twirl. “I have to say, you really pull off this look, Tozier. With this you’ll basically be irresistible. Go get ‘im!”</p>
<p>Richie jumped forward and kissed her forehead, then jumped over to Ben and kissed his forehead too. “Thank you both! I really fucking mean it. I love you and I owe you big time. Anything you need, I am there.”</p>
<p>Richie felt an odd twinge of apprehension when he realised that his tail was wagging with his happiness, but he just couldn’t feel it. It was like trying to shake his arm when he slept on it funny and it went numb – he knew he was shaking it, but he couldn’t feel the motion.</p>
<p>Ben smiled, but it didn’t squeeze up his cheeks like it normally would. “Just have a good night.” After a small pause his smile faltered. “And please remember that if you feel like it’s not working, head into the forest.”</p>
<p>“Sure thing, Haystack.”</p>
<p>“Richie!” Bev shouted after him just as he was about to leave.</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>“I want you back here before your curfew, young man, and I want you to stay respectful to that sweet Kaspbrak boy,” she joked. “No funny business.”</p>
<p>Richie threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll be staying out <em>all night</em>, sorry. I’m gonna soak up every last bit of that full moon light that I can. And I can’t promise anything with Eddie either.” He winked at her as he ducked out through the door, but he had to wipe his palms on his jeans as he jogged back through Ben’s house. He talked a good game, but he’d be lucky to get through the night without crying or stress-puking or making a fool out of himself with a combination of both.</p>
<p>Richie looked up at the darkening sky and jogged towards the fair, ironically almost wishing he had four legs to run on.</p>
<p>But, for once, the full moon wasn’t going to be about being a werewolf. It was just Richie Tozier, at the full moon fair at last, on a date (maybe) with his best friend.</p>
<p>And he wasn’t going to let anything ruin it.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, please join me on my tumblr if you want to yell about clown movie stuff with me! @<a href="https://izupie.tumblr.com/">Izupie</a> ~</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(please yell things at me at my tumblr <a href="https://izupie.tumblr.com/">@Izupie</a>)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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